Tug of War
by Zoe Rose
Summary: Havoc ensues when Beast Boy and Cyborg both vie for Raven's affections and it's driving her crazy. COMPLETE! and all the people rejoiced
1. Bring it On!

A/N TT are not mine! R&R and enjoy! Don't forget: Constuctive Criticism is my friend.

Tug Of War

Raven's eyes scanned the page of her book. She was really engrossed in the story and hardly noticed the activity around her, in fact she was determined to ignore everything. There was no point in paying attention. Why bother? Beast Boy and Cyborg were engrossed in a Gamestation racing game, Robin and Starfire were engrossed with each other and Raven was better off not getting involved in any activity. She was safer that way. Raven was so busy empathizing with Frankenstein's monster that she didn't notice when Beast Boy and Cyborg finished their game.

"Ha! I _so _beat your green little butt!" Cyborg exclaimed doing a little victory dance.

"Of course you would," Beast Boy frowned, "You _so_ cheated."

"Did not! Your just jealous because of my superior gaming skills," Cyborg blew a raspberry, "I'm hungry. Excuse me while I go make myself a victory sub. You want anything?"

Beast Boy shook his head, still pouting. He was busy being a sore loser. Beast Boy turned off the game console and looked around, immediately finding himself bored. Not feeling like following Cyborg to the kitchen to listen to him gloat Beast Boy walked up to Robin and Starfire who were sitting in a corner of the room chatting, their backs were turned. He was about to try and startle them before joining in on their conversation when he heard Starfire say: "So Robin, where do human babies come from?" Robin's face reddened and Beast Boy found that his cue to leave and silently thanked the powers that be that he wasn't in Robin's position no matter how bored he was.

Sighing Beast Boy returned to the couch and sat down next to Raven. She didn't seem to notice his presence at all. He opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it and watched her silently. Her brow wrinkled ever so slightly as she turned the page. Her indigo eyes began to scan the next page, moving left to right. She was a fast reader. A strand of hair fell in her face, but she didn't even blink. Without thinking Beast Boy brushed the stray lock of Raven's hair and tucked it behind her ear.

Without moving a muscle Raven's eyes looked to the side and fixed on him and glared at him with slight contempt. "What?" she asked.

"Uh, your hair, it um... fell in your eyes," Beast Boy said nervously, "Just thought I'd get it out of your way."

Raven looked back to her book and Beast Boy heaved an overdramatic sigh. He watched Raven for a minute, watched the slight changes in her expression and wondered what the book was about, since she obviously was enjoying it. Glancing at the title he wondered how close it was to all the "Frankenstein" movies out there.

"Not even close," Raven replied, turning the page.

"Huh?" Beast Boy asked. He didn't realize he had wondered that out loud.

"Those movies are nothing like the book," Raven shrugged. She closed her book and marked her page with her thumb, "All right Beast Boy, what do you want?" her tone of voice was flat and even, but had a slight hint of annoyance and at the same time interest.

"Nothing," he replied.

Raven put her hood up, "Then do you mind not staring at me? I'm trying to read. It's distracting."

"Right, sorry," Beast Boy nodded. "I'll be going now."

Raven didn't show it but she watched him with her eyes as he left and disappeared into the kitchen. When he was gone she grinned slightly and went back to her book.

"Cy, can I talk to you?" Beast Boy asked joining the human robot in the kitchen.

"I'm not going to play any rematch or best out of three," Cyborg said, taking a huge bite out of his sandwich. "I'm the champ and that's that." he added with a full mouth.

"It's not about the game, it's about Raven," Beast Boy said seriously.

Cyborg immediately gave him his full attention, "Why? What's wrong? Is she OK?"

"Huh? No, she's fine. It's me... Cyborg, I really like her, but I don't know what to do about it," Beast Boy confessed. "What do you think? Should I tell her? Should I ask her out? I mean it's Raven..."

Cyborg's face darkened. "No. You shouldn't. Forget about her, it would never work out, so save the heartache and give up before it goes too far."

Beast Boy pondered that a moment, confused. He did not expect such a definite negative answer. "Why do you say that?"

Cyborg's brown face blanched, "Because uh... I don't know. She's not your type."

"My type?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yeah, you know, blonde, perky, talkative and makes poor choices? The opposite of Raven."

"Cy, just because I dated Terra doesn't meant that's my _type_," Beast Boy frowned, "You don't know my type."

"Well, I know Raven's not your type so forget about it!" Cyborg snapped as he grabbed his plate and headed for the door.

Beast Boy jumped in front of him, blocking the exit, "Dude, what's your deal? All I do is ask for some advice and you throw it in my face like I did something wrong!"

"Listen BB, I'm your friend and I don't want to see you getting hurt again. You're just on the rebound or something. Just give up on Raven. If you want a different answer, ask someone else," Cyborg said icily, "Outta my way." Beast Boy watched dumbfounded as Cyborg stormed out of the kitchen.

Cyborg looked around the living area. He needed to talk to someone who was not Beast Boy or Raven. Robin and Starfire were talking. Robin looked very uncomfortable and Starfire looked fascinated, hanging on to his every word. Raven seemed to have left, probably to go meditate. Cyborg suddenly felt to urge to find her, but thought against it. He joined Robin and Starfire, "Hey are you guys busy, can I talk to you?" Cyborg asked, immediately cooling off after losing his temper with Beast Boy.

"Well, actually um... we were in the middle of discussing reprodu..." Starfire started.

"Yes! Please join us! What do you want to talk about?" Robin said as he exhaled with relief in a whoosh of air. "Our conversation can wait! Right Star?" He looked at her hopefully, like he would rather talk about anything other than whatever they were talking about.

Starfire looked disappointed for a moment but she brushed it off an brightened, "I suppose so. What is it that you wish to discuss Cyborg?"

"I have a huge problem, and I need your advice," Cyborg said.

"What is it?" Robin asked.

"OK, I have this um, friend who likes this girl and his other friend likes her too. What should I tell my friend so that he could still get the girl and not lose his other friend in the process?" Cyborg asked.

Robin grinned, "You like someone? Who is she?"

"No one! I uh, don't know. My friends latest crush," Cyborg shrugged.

"Oh come on Cy, it's obviously you. Let me guess, you and BB like the same girl?" Robin asked.

Cyborg sighed, "Yeah."

"So come on man, spill, who is she?" Robin asked gently punching him on the shoulder. "Is it that waitress at the pizzeria?"

Cyborg hesitated, "No. If I tell you guys who it is do you promise not to tell her? She can't know. Not until I figure out what to do. And BB can't know I like her either."

"Promise," Robin nodded.

"Your secret is safe with me," Starfire said solemnly with excited eyes.

"Raven," Cyborg replied. Robin and Starfire exchanged glances, their eyes widened. "I've had a crush on her ever since I've been in her head. I just didn't know how to act upon it. I was afraid to, I mean it's Raven. She's obviously not like other girls. You don't just boldly ask the girl out or tell her you like her. Problem is, my feelings for her have grown over the last year or so, and well... now that I know BB likes her too I really don't know what to do. If BB and Raven got together, I would go crazy and I already kick myself for not asking her out already. But if I do that now, it would probably ruin Beast Boy's and my friendship. I'm already angry at him even though I shouldn't be but I liked her first!" He said the last statement rather childishly and folded his arms.

"Cyborg, slow down," Starfire grinned, "I am sure that we can figure this out."

Robin however shook his head, "Cy, you know you should never let a girl get in the way of your friendship. Not only for your sake and Beast Boy's but for the team. Maybe you should both forget about it. No girl is worth ruining a friendship over."

"But this is Raven we're talking about. We both see her everyday, we all work together. I can't stand not being with her," Cyborg sighed, "I should've asked her out a long time ago, and this wouldn't have happened."

"Cy, it's _because _this is Raven we're talking about, and you and Beast Boy, it's _because _we all live and work together that you should both forget about her," Robin said, "Sorry buddy, but it's for the best."

"I don't think I can do that. Not anymore," Cyborg sighed. "And what about Beast Boy? Are you going to tell him that?"

Starfire cleared her throat, "On Tamaran, it is customary when two males wish to court the same female they must fight to the death if they do not find an alternative solution."

"You can't be serious..." Cyborg and Robin said in unison.

"I do not wish for you and Beast Boy to fight to the death, but perhaps you two can compete for Raven's affections," Starfire suggested. "After the competition, Raven can chose who she wishes to engage in courtship."

"I don't think that's a good idea..." Robin started.

"Well I think it's a great idea!" Beast Boy said defiantly, coming up from behind. "What do you say Cy?"

"You're on," Cyborg nodded.

"With my winning good looks and charming personality, I'll win Raven over for sure," Beast Boy gloated.

"Winning good looks? Say what? Dream on greenie!" Cyborg disagreed. The two argued their way out of the room.

"Star you made a big mistake suggesting that," Robin said.

Star shook her head, "No I have not. Do not worry Robin, it will be over soon and it will be all right."

"How do you know?"

"Because I know our friends. I already know who Raven will chose, and I know that Beast Boy and Cyborg are best friends and will stop fighting once they cool off, because deep down, they are too close of friends to let a girl, any girl ruin their friendship forever. The fight will not last," Starfire said with confidence. "Once Raven reveals her decision, they will eventually forgive each other."

"I can already see disaster, even if it does work out in the end. I mean, either way, someone will lose in the end," Robin sighed. "If you know things will turn out, how long do you think their feud will last?

"Not long. This is Raven we are talking about," Starfire smiled. "She will not allow them to fight for too long and since she is their object of affection, they will listen to her."

"So who is she going to pick? Cyborg or Beast Boy?" Robin asked.

Starfire shook her head, "No, no. I am sworn to confidence. I will not tell anyone what Raven has told me in secret."

"Fine," Robin replied, "But I hope you're right."

"I know I am," Starfire grinned. Her face turned serious as she returned to their prior conversation, "Now, where were we? Oh yes! Tell me again, because I do not understand. Please explain to me why exactly the male human cannot give birth?"


	2. It Starts

A/N Thanks for the reviews everyone! I daresay I wrote the whole thing in the course of a day as an impromptu fic and it turned out differently than expected so I changed the genre from humour to action/adventure since later chapters will be just that, but the story maintains a light tone especially in earlier chapters. .Since this story is on my computer finished, I will update every couple of days or so. So unlike my other fics, you won't have to wait forever for an update.

**Raven A. Star: **Thanks for reviewing all of my Teen Titans fics thus far! It makes me happy! I'm glad you liked the first chapter! Hope you like this chapter as well!

**Ravenn03: **Love the suggestions! Actually I have this story all written and the bed in breakfast thing just won't fit with the flow. You should write a story if you have ideas, I'd read it! It might be a fun break from your big writing project. Thanks for the review and the suggestions!

**ninmenju-shin: **Giant Cookie! Run for your lives! (Unless it's chocolate chip in which case eat for your lives!!) I am so glad you like the idea! You will have to be patient to see how it turns out.

**Philosopher**: I never thought about it that way but yeah you're right, usually when people ask for advice they do hear what they want to hear. Anyway you're welcome! And thank you so much for the review!!

Warning, BB and Cy are really immature and slightly OOC in this fic, please forgive me if you think so.

So without further ado I bring you chapter two. R&R and enjoy! Don't forget the CC!

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And so it was decided that Beast Boy and Cyborg would compete to see who could win Raven's heart first. They only had one rule: Raven must not know about their competition. She had to choose on her own terms so the results would be more honest.

Later that day Raven opened her eyes and planted her feet on solid ground. She had just finished meditating on the roof and felt refreshed. Her eyes scanned the horizon at the setting sun. She sighed slightly, it was beautiful, the sky was a symphony of colour. She bathed in the tranquility around her for a while when she sensed someone was on the roof with her. Her eyes turned in the direction of the person and tilted her head slightly to get a look. "Can I help you?" she asked.

Cyborg looked at her nervously; one hand was behind his back, "Uh, no…um…"

Raven encouraged him to spit out whatever he wanted to stay with a sardonic expression on her face.

"Here!" he thrust a bouquet of flowers in her face and rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"May I ask what the…" she sneezed and rubbed her nose, "what the occasion is?" she pushed the flowers out of her way.

"Um…" he put the flowers in her face again, "Nothing? Just thought I'd get you some…" he stopped when Raven sneezed again. "Bless you."

"Cy, I'm allergic to orchids," Raven sneezed again more violently this time. The flowers blew up.

Cy blushed and quickly pulled the stems away from her and put them behind his back, "Sorry! So sorry I had no idea!"

Raven sniffed, "Dats obay…" she rubbed her nose and sneezed again. "I'b gotta go…" she motioned to the flower petals surrounding them. She walked away and sneezed again. "Coub you get rib ob dem please?" she sneezed, and tossed a orchid petal that had stuck to the inside of her hood when she accidentally blew the flowers up. She lowered her hood and shook her head, rubbing her nose.

Cy kicked the ground, "Dammit! I blew it!"

A green hawk flew beside him and morphed into Beast Boy, "Dude, you were going to win her over by giving her flowers?" he laughed. "Raven's not the kind of girl who likes getting flowers, I thought that would be obvious. I didn't think she'd get so mad and blow them up though."

"Shut up!" Cyborg snapped in frustration, "I'm not good at this, I haven't exactly been with a girl since my accident and that was during a game of spin the bottle at Lucy Saunders twelfth birthday party. And Raven wasn't mad, she was allergic."

Beast Boy literally started rolling on the floor in laughter, "Spin the bottle? And Raven was allergic!? This is going to be so easy!"

"OK genius, what's your strategy?" Cyborg demanded.

Beast Boy stopped laughing and shook his finger at him, "Ah ah ah, not telling. Until Raven picks one of us, it's every beast and robot for himself. Excuse me, I have a girl to woo." He quickly turned into a rabbit and sprinted inside. He raced into the kitchen and put on a kettle of water. He glanced in the living room and saw Raven settle back on the couch and take her book and begin to read. She was still sniffling from her allergies. "Perfect!" Beast Boy took a orchid petal he picked up on his way inside and held it in his hand. He morphed into a mouse and carried the petal into the living room, climbed the back of the couch and stealthily planted it in her lowered hood before he raced back into the kitchen and watched. She gave a little sneeze and Beast Boy rubbed his hands together in delight.

The kettle whistled for a brief moment and Beast Boy quickly took it off and placed it on a silver platter along with a tin full of different flavours of herbal tea. He took out Raven's favourite tea cup and put it on the tray with a cup of sugar and a silver teaspoon. He made sure it looked just right and waited for Raven to sneeze before he carried the tray into the living room.

"Hey Raven, you catching a cold or something?" Beast Boy asked casually, holding the silver tray like a professional waiter at some posh restaurant.

Raven glanced up from her book and raise a brow and sniffled, "No, allergie…e…eeachoo!" She shook her head.

"Oh, well you sounded like you weren't feeling well so I thought I'd make you some tea," Beast Boy said.

Raven's eyes widened, "Wow, tank you…" she sneezed again. "Ugh!"

Beast Boy put the tray down on the coffee table and reached into her hood, "What's this?" he pulled out his planted orchid petal.

"Trow ib away!" she waved, "Dat's whub I'b…" she stopped to sneeze again but it didn't come, "allergic to." she finished.

"Got it!" Beast Boy nodded throwing it out the window as Raven's sneeze finally came.

Raven shook he head and rubbed her nose.

"Kleenex?" Beast Boy asked, pulling it out from behind him like some suave James Bond type.

Raven took it, "Tanks…" she wiped her nose and leaned back and groaned.

Beast Boy paused a moment, "I wasn't sure what kind of tea you wanted so I gave you a choice. I couldn't find your tea leaves so I hope you don't mind the teabags."

"They're fine," Raven smiled slightly giving another sniff. "I feel better now."

"Great!" Beast Boy grinned, "So where'd the flower petal come from?"

Raven rolled her eyes, "Cyborg thought he'd give me flowers. What on earth possessed him to do that is beyond me."

"Really? Wow, I thought he knew you were allergic," Beast Boy said.

"How would he know?" Raven asked as she picked out a flavour of tea.

"I don't know. I mean, _I_ knew," Beast Boy shrugged. "Remember when we had that battle in that garden? You told us you were allergic to certain flowers."

"Funny, I don't remember that," Raven said suspiciously.

Beast Boy made a face as he lied, "I do."

Raven eyed him curiously. "Beast Boy, why did you make me tea?"

"Because… you looked like you weren't feeling well so I thought I'd be nice and make you some tea," he shrugged.

Raven seemed sceptical but she shrugged it off and accepted his answer. She poured herself a cup of tea and began to read. Beast Boy watched her a moment. She took a sip of tea and turned the page when she realized she was being watched again. She fixed her eyes on him without turning her head. "Beast Boy? Remember what I told you earlier about being watched while I read?"

"Right, sorry!" Beast Boy nodded taking the silver platter with the kettle still half full of hot water and the sugar and teabags. "I'll get this out of your way. Enjoy your book Rave."

Meanwhile Cyborg watched him with loathing. "Dirty tricks BB," he muttered. Having witnessed Beast Boy plant the orchid petal, and lie about knowing about her allergies and act like a hero and take advantage of Cyborgs mistake, Cyborg decided to sabotage Beast Boy's strategy. It was only fair. He punched something into the keypad on his robotic arm and aimed a tiny red laser at the changelings neck. It wasn't harmful or noticeable to the naked eye but it emitted a shocking heat that only lasted a moment, enough to startle him.

"Ow!" Beast Boy jumped, dropping the tray on Raven's lap and rubbing his neck. Hot water and sugar dumped all over her, getting her and her book.

Raven's face tensed up and turned red she clutched her cloak and quickly began to dry the boiling hot water off her lap with a corner of her cloak, "Gaaah!! Beast Boy!" she scolded painfully. The lamp exploded.

"Woah! Raven I am so sorry!" Beast Boy exclaimed, blotting some of the water up with the other bottom corner of her cloak.

"Beast Boy!" Raven warned, "Stop! I got it! Hands off!" Another lamp exploded.

Beast Boy froze and realized his hands were drying her breasts. He pulled away, red in the face, "I am so, so sorry!"

During the commotion Cyborg ran into the kitchen and grabbed a big glass of cold water, he didn't think Beast Boy would drop it all over Raven although it did help his cause.

"Ow!" Raven groaned as she realized she was rubbing sugar crystals into her tender skin. Cyborg ran into the living area.

"I saw what happened!" Cyborg said, dumping the cold water all over Raven. "You OK?"

Startled Raven let out a chilled, "Eeeeek!" Now she was cold, burned and drenched and her book was ruined. The scent of orchids coming off Cyborg tickled her nose and she sneezed again. Raven looked like a mess.

Both boys looked at her in shock and guilt. "You uh… are you OK Raven?" they asked nervously.

Red in the face Raven glared at both of them, her eyes turned red, "Get out! Get lost!" she hissed, blowing up the TV in her anger.

"Cy, you and me, the roof, NOW!" Beast Boy hissed.

"You're on!" Cyborg snapped, planting his fist in his palm.

Raven despite her anger watched the two of them curiously and suspiciously as they stormed out of the living room, glaring daggers at each other. Starfire came into the living room a second later, "What is all the commotion about?" she asked. She scanned the room and noted all the Raven inflicted damage to the lamps and TV. Starfire looked at Raven curiously, "Why are you so wet?"

Raven growled and stormed off into her room.

Meawhile Cyborg and Beast Boy glared at each other as they reached the roof. Beast Boy transformed into a gorilla and in anger the two best friends found themselves wrestling, showing little mercy. Cyborg delivered a punch in Beast Boy's stomach, Beast Boy returned it with a blow to Cyborg's face. Cyborg tossed Beast Boy to the ground, Beast Boy flipped Cyborg over his shoulder. They both sprang to their feet and grabbed the other's shoulders, trying to overpower the other. They were locked in the position as they both tensed up and tried to push the other.

"You cheated Beast Boy!" Cyborg barked, "You lied to Raven just to make me look bad! How dare you!"

Robin suddenly rushed onto the roof and jumped between them, "Stop it both of you!" he snapped angrily pushing them both away from each other. Beast Boy changed back into his normal form.

"Cyborg you're the one who cheated!" Beast Boy shouted. "You made me drop that tray!"

"Well you made it sound like I knew she was allergic to orchids!" Cyborg hissed, "And then you used that to make yourself look like the hero!"

"At this rate Raven's going to hate you both before this stupid fight of yours is over!" Robin scolded them. "Come on guys, is it really worth beating each other up like this? We're a team. I will not tolerate this on my team. Get over it!"

"Easy for you to say bird boy," Cyborg frowned, "You have a girlfriend."

"I do not! Star's just a friend…"

"Yeah right," Beast Boy and Cyborg shared a laugh, then remembering they were mad at each other folded their arms and glared at each other in disgust.

Robin watched them curiously but brushed it off, "Listen, I think fighting over Raven is a bad idea. How do you even know if Raven even likes either of you?"

"That's why we're trying to win her over," Beast Boy said, "Duh!"

"Yeah, we're competing to see who wins Raven's heart first, remember?" Cyborg added.

"Well you're doing a great job," Robin shook his head. "You don't romance a girl by giving her allergies or scalding her to death!"

"That was all Cy's fault!" Beast Boy said childishly.

"Hey!" Cyborg whined indignantly.

"What are you guys six? I don't care whose fault it is. You're both to blame for playing dirty. So if you're both still bent on winning Raven over, perhaps you should play nice so at least someone comes out unscathed. If you ask me, you should both give up, it's not worth losing your friendship. I don't want to have to break you two up again," Robin said. "You guys are acting like babies." He stormed off.

Cyborg and Beast Boy glared at each other for a moment, "This is war," Cyborg hissed.

"And you're going to lose," Beast Boy added before turning into a hawk and flying off. Cyborg stormed inside.

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A/N Behold the button below, the one that says review! Please clicky on that and leave me one, it would make me happy! I like being happy! 


	3. Raven's Bad Day

A/N A big huge nod and dedication to all my fantabulous reviewers!

**Philospoher:** Thank you so much for the compliments! Too much angst I suppose can be tedious after a while. So glad you like!

**Keystone:** Thanks for the review. I have a little story to share with how I came up with the idea since I agree, this was bound to happen sooner or later. I've noticed on some of the analyses on TV Tome for the TT episodes, Rav/Cy shippers would be like, "Raven smiled at Cy! They're in love!" or "Did you notice how concerned Raven was when she saved Cy? That must mean they're totally in love!" and Rav/BB shippers would be like, "Nevermore proves that Rave likes BB!" or "BB's eyes like, totally lit up when he talked to Raven. They love each other!!" In other words, fans would read into every little thing to prove that the ship they're sailing is the right one and ignore any little thing that fans of another ship declares proof for their cause. Some people read into things so much it's hilarious and I think it would be hilarious for hardcore shippers to fight over the ship to rule them all. That is how I got the idea. Personally I think that of course BB likes Raven, and Cyborg likes Raven and Raven likes them both, and they like Rob and Star and vice versa, they are all friends right? They are a team after all. I personally will sail any ship so long as it's written well so you never know how this may turn out...I do though. Muhahaha! (Dang I tend to ramble sometimes...)

**Scorpio Serpent**: Heheehee! Glad you find this funny.

**neon rose:** Thanks! Glad you like!

Well everyone it's time for another chapter! Please enjoy and don't forget to review!

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Raven didn't come out of her room for the rest of the day. She felt miserable. Not only was she tender and sore from being burned by the hot water, but the cold water, mixed with her allergies had made her more susceptible to catching something. Considering it was the right season for it, she woke up the next morning with a cold.

"Hey Raven can I get you something? Breakfast perhaps?" Beast Boy asked as she came into the kitchen the next morning with a slight storm cloud over her head.

"I think you've done enough," she muttered.

Beast Boy glanced at the red blotches on her legs from the tea incident. He quickly glanced away, "I am really sorry about that. It was an accident."

"I know, I know, you said that already, and I'm over it," she sighed as she sat down at the kitchen table and put her hand to her head with a little groan.

"You OK?" he asked.

"Yesterday's little adventures gave me a head cold. Oh and by the way, you owe me a new copy of Frankenstein. Be sure you get the 1816 version, not the 1831 revision," Raven stated.

Beast Boy took a deep breath, "No problem. Say Raven, do you want to hang out today?"

"No," she replied simply.

"Come on please? I feel so bad about yesterday, let me make it up to you!" he begged. "We can go to the bookstore so we can make sure I get you the right version of Frankenstein and we can go to that café you like..."

Raven shook her head, "Beast Boy, I don't really feel well today." She let out a little sneeze.

"All right then, we can hang out here and do whatever you want!" he grinned. "I can fix you some tea!"

"No!" Raven snapped, recoiling in shock and horror. She relaxed and sighed, "No. Listen, all I want to do is read and meditate and sleep off this cold today. They're all one person activities."

Cyborg came into the kitchen, "Hey Rae, you coming?"

"Yeah," she replied.

"Where are you going?" Beast Boy asked with an icy stare at Cyborg.

"Out," Cyborg replied with a smirk.

"Raven I thought you wanted to stay home today," Beast Boy exclaimed childishly.

Raven sniffed, "I do, but we have to run some errands." Cyborg stuck his tongue out at Beast Boy which went unseen by Raven who added as she wiped her nose with a Kleenex, "You can come if you want." Cyborg's face dropped and he shook his head warningly at Beast Boy.

This time it was Beast Boy's turn to smirk, "Sure!"

Cyborg slapped his forehead, "Well come on then, let's get this over with."

Robin and Starfire joined them, "What's up this morning?" Robin asked, casting a wary look at the feuding friends in warning. Starfire glanced at Raven sympathetically.

"We're going to run some errands," Raven said innocently, still having no clue what was going on.

"The three of you?" Starfire asked.

Raven nodded then sneezed followed by a cough. "There's a few things I need."

"Hey maybe you should stay home," Robin said.

"He is correct. You do not sound too good. I am certain Beast Boy or Cyborg can pick up what you need," Starfire added. But both Rob and Star had another reason for wanting Raven to stay home, namely Beast Boy and Cyborg.

"No," she sniffed, "I'm really particular about my cold remedies. They'd probably get the wrong stuff and make things worse at this rate."

"Well, be careful," Starfire warned, casting a glance at Beast Boy and Cyborg. Raven looked at her quizzically but shrugged it off. The three of them left and Starfire sat down at the table and sighed.

"You still think you had a good idea suggesting they compete?" Robin asked.

"I did not think they would be as competitive as you," Starfire replied. "I have never seen them so angry with each other. But I am sure the boys have learned their lesson yesterday about how they should go about this, or at least I hope so."

"They better have," Robin said, "And I'm not _that_ competitive."

"Do you wish to make a bet?" Starfire asked, then she caught herself, "Perhaps you should not answer that."

"I think you're right," Robin nodded.

Meanwhile Beast Boy, Cyborg and Raven managed to run all their errands without much incident. However Raven was beginning to notice that something was up. They were obviously feuding about something. If there wasn't an awkward silence between the two, they were arguing about something, or speaking with contempt. She was too blind and too focused on her discomfort to realize though they were fighting over her. Although they were constantly arguing about who got to open the doors for her and who got to hold her purchases for her.

"Guys, it's just some stuff for my cold," Raven told them with a sniff, "I think I can handle carrying it myself and I think I'm...achoo... more than capable of opening a door."

"Nonsense," Cyborg said, "you're sick, you should be allowed to take it easy and..." he reached to hold the door open for her as they were leaving the health food store but Beast Boy jumped in the way.

"After you," he bowed to Raven holding the door for her and allowing the door to shut in Cyborg's face.

"As I was saying," Cyborg continued, shooting an evil glance at Beast Boy, "you should be allowed to take it easy and shouldn't have to carry anything because you're sick."

Raven paused, "Whose fault is it that I caught this cold anyway?" she glared at both of them and then calmed her expression. "Besides, it's just a little cold, no big deal. Let's just go home." She walked on ahead towards the T-car as she coughed a few times. She was about to reach for the door handle when Cyborg exclaimed:

"I call it!"

"Nuh-uh!" Beast Boy shook his head as they raced to the door to see who could open the door for Raven first.

The two boys dived at the passenger door and in the process knocked Raven down and she fell on her butt. "Hey!" she snapped.

"Sorry Raven!" Beast Boy exclaimed, "Let me help you up!" He outstretched his hand but Cyborg slapped his hand out of the way.

"No, let me," Cyborg insisted, reaching for her.

Raven watched from the sidewalk as they began to fight about who got to help her to he feet. She frowned at the irony since it was their fault she fell. She climbed to her feet and rubbed her rump and put her hands on their shoulders, her touch calmed them down, "Will you two stop?" she asked calmly, "I'm up. And if you guys want shotgun so bad, I can ride in the back seat. Besides aren't you supposed to be driving anyway Cyborg?"

"We uh... we weren't fighting for shotgun," Cyborg said.

"Then what was the point of racing to the door and pushing me down?" she asked.

Cyborg and Beast Boy glanced at each other and bowed their heads. She raised a brow and climbed into the back seat, her face as expressionless as ever. "Sorry about that Raven," Cyborg muttered as he climbed in.

"Me too," Beast Boy added.

"What are you guys fighting about anyway?" Raven asked as she sneezed.

Beast Boy and Cyborg exchanged glances, neither of them were willing to confess the truth. "Nothing," Cyborg said.

Raven rolled her eyes and said nothing. She sniffed and took some zinc lozenges.

When they got home Raven went to the kitchen and began making herself some soup for lunch. Raven buttered a bun to go with it as the soup heated on the stove. Robin and Starfire were no where to be seen and Raven hoped that Beast Boy and Cyborg went off to do something, anything away from her, they were getting on her nerves big time. She sat down at the table and began to eat, glad to be by herself again. Beast Boy and Cyborg's strange feud was beginning to drive her crazy and she needed to be alone to get over it.

Much to her dismay though Cyborg came in, "Hey Raven, how are you feeling?"

"Well," she sighed, "My sinuses hurt because of my cold, my lap hurts from being burned yesterday, my tailbone hurts from being pushed down today and I want to be alone right now, all right?"

"Right, sorry about that..." Cyborg sighed.

Raven took a bite out of her bun just as Beast Boy came in and playfully slapped her on the shoulder, "Hey Raven."

Raven's eyes widened as she prematurely swallowed her bread and it became stuck in her throat. She coughed, trying to find air.

"Come on Beast Boy, Raven wants to be left alone," Cyborg said, not noticing that Raven was choking, he was too busy glaring at Beast Boy in angrily.

"Oh yeah, you just want me to leave so you can be alone with her," Beast Boy frowned, also not taking notice of Raven's dire predicament.

Raven waved her arms and banged on the table trying to get their attention as she coughed and choked on her bread. Both equally distracted, they waved her off and continued arguing. She wasn't paying any attention to what they were saying, she was too busy trying to breathe. She fell out of her chair and staggered back, bumping into the counter and putting her hands to her throat as she tried to cough. She began to feel light headed as she moaned desperately, trying to get their attention, gasping for air.

"Oh yeah! Well I still say she's not your type!" Cyborg snapped. "Give up!"

"No you give up!" Beast Boy hissed, "You can't make her happy like I can. Like you said, you're not good with girls!"

Raven doubled over and tried to give herself the Heimlich since the boys were too busy arguing to notice she was choking to death but she didn't know how to do it to herself . She vaguely heard them spitting insults and accusations as she fell into the counter and sank to her knees, knocking some dishes off the counter while trying to get back up on her feet.

"Yeah well it's your fault Raven has a cold!" Beast Boy said, by now they were somewhere else in their argument, "And it's your fault she burned herself. You made me drop the hot water!"

"Well it's your fault she fell today. You pushed her and..." Cyborg retorted but was cut off when Robin and Starfire came in.

"What's all the commotion... Raven!" Robin exclaimed seeing the dark girl struggling in the background choking. Her cheeks were red and her lips were turning blue as her arms flailed around madly and she tried in vain to cough. Her violet eyes bulged and looked at them pleadingly.

Starfire ran behind Raven and began giving her the Heimlich.

"What is the matter with you two?!" Robin yelled, "Are you too self-absorbed to notice that Raven's choking?!"

"That's your fault!" Cyborg said to Beast Boy.

"I can't believe you guys! Are you both so blind?" Robin demanded fiercely, "Stop fighting, now! At this rate by the time you're done you won't have a girl left to fight over and then where would you be?!" He shot them an angered glare before assisting the girls.

Starfire tried the Heimlich one more time and Raven was finally freed of her burden. She coughed violently and sank to the floor shaking. "Are you all right Raven?" Starfire asked. Raven nodded with a desperate wheeze.

Robin handed Raven a glass of water and shot Cyborg and Beast Boy another glare. Shakily Raven took a drink and began to feel better. "Thank you," Raven said hoarsely, "It's good to know there are at least _some_ people in this tower I can count on." She shot Beast Boy and Cyborg an icy glare. "I don't know or care about what you guys are fighting about, but stop it. This stupid fight of yours is becoming hazardous to my health." Raven rose to her feet with Starfire's help and staggered out of the kitchen in a daze.

"Way to go genius," Cyborg hissed.

"What? What did I do?" Beast Boy protested.

"You're the one who made her choke!"

"Oh yeah? Well you're the one who..."

"Enough!" Robin snapped, once again coming between them. "Just grow up guys both of you!"

Starfire bowed her head, "This is all my fault."

"Don't say that Star," Robin said.

"No," Starfire shook her head, "I should have never suggested you fight over her. I did not anticipate that you two would become competitive jerks. On Tamaran, people fought fairly, even when fighting to the death. I thought you two were better than to act like spoiled children. You are behaving selfishly and Raven is the one who suffers because of it. If you both truly cared about her you would see that. Either grow up and compete fairly, or give up because at this rate, I do not see how Raven would ever wish to even speak with you again." With that Starfire left the kitchen.

Robin watched Starfire leave and then turned to Cyborg and Beast Boy, "I hope you two are happy."

The feuding friends watched Robin leave and they both stood in silence for a moment. Finally Beast Boy bit his lip and sighed, "They're right. Look what our feud has done. Maybe we should just stop this. Raven obviously hates us now, and frankly I don't want to lose you both."

Cyborg nodded, "I guess so. Truce?"

"Yeah," Beast Boy agreed as they shook hands. Neither of them noticed however that they both had their fingers crossed behind their back.

* * *

A/N Eep I am so mean to poor Raven in this fic. The sacrifices she makes for humor...

_See that button down below?_

_The one that says review_

_Click on that and I will know_

_My fic's been read by you!_

_If you liked this please tell me so_

_And I will be so glad_

_But if you don't please tell me so_

_Just tell me why it's bad._

_All reviews they give me thrills_

_But Constructive Criticism is my friend_

_It helps me to improve my skills_

_and makes me happy in the end._

_-Zoe Rose_


	4. Clash of the Titans

A/N Gaaaaahhhhhh so many reviews... in one chapter....so happy I can...cry!

Eeep! I thank you all for the reviews.

**Keystone:** You rock man! Love the poem you wrote in the review! It made me giddy, everyone in the library looked at me funny...

**ThedarkAzar:** Love the name. I don't like the Raven bashing either to be honest. She's my favourite character. It just sorta turned out that way. Don't worry, she'll get even in her own way. It will get better! Glad you liked the poem.

**Philosopher: **Thanks. And don't think you can't write a review poem in your fic(s) just because I did. Go for it. Who knows, maybe I've started a trend? That would be cool. You can even use mine if you want so long as you give credit where credit is due.

**Scorpio Serpent:** Who wouldn't hate them after that?

**Ravenn03:** I'm so glad you like those parts (it always makes me happy when people name their favourite parts)! They were a blast to write. Thanks for the compliments!

**NatashaTeenTitan:** Thanks for the CC. Don't worry, this has a slight subplot involving Rob and Star that will develop more in the following chapters but the focus is mostly going to remain on the BB/Rae/Cy triangle thingie.

**Rugsrat:** Hey thanks! I'm delighted by the compliments and thanks for putting me on your author alert.

**CloudedDragon:** You'll see (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)

**Kuramie and Kaiaramith: **100% original? I've never got that before! Thanks!

**neon rose, Raven A. Star, Morierea-Tenshi, Pessimist99, impy, kp**: Thanks so much for the reviews! I'm so glad that everyone has enjoyed this and found it funny so far! I appreciate everyones review!

OK, I feel so happy about the reivews but now I guess the pressure is on. There's not nearly as much slapstick humour in the next few chapters as there were in the previous ones, so I hope I don't disappoint but I gotta keep the plot moving. Anyway, please R&R and enjoy!

* * *

Exhausted Raven went to her room. She sniffled a bit and coughed feeling terrible. Now on top of her cold, her burns and her sore rump all that choking made her throat hurt and her ribs now ached because of receiving the Heimlich. She decided to put off meditating and instead chose to take a nap. Sleeping off her cold became her top priority. She settled into bed and closed her eyes and except for the occasional cough was about to fall asleep when she heard a knock on the door. She groaned and grudgingly trudged to her door, cursing to herself. _That had better not be Cyborg or Beast Boy._ She thought bitterly as she answered her door she sighed with relief when she saw Starfire.

"Raven, I just wanted to see how you are feeling," Starfire said.

With a sigh Raven replied, "I feel like crap at the moment. Hopefully after a nap I'll feel better."

Starfire nodded, "Right. Well, enjoy your nap." She lingered a moment.

"Is there anything else?" Raven asked.

"I understand that you are mad at Beast Boy and Cyborg, but I hope that you do not hate them because of what happened today," she said.

"Why would I hate them?" Raven asked.

Starfire bit her lip.

"Star, do you know why they are fighting?" Raven asked.

"I am not at liberty to reveal that to you," Starfire said, "but I can tell you that you are the only one who can end it."

"Too bad that none of that made sense just now," Raven muttered, "Star, I don't know what you are talking about but only they can stop their fighting, not me."

"But they are fighting over...!" she clapped her hand to her mouth.

"Over what?"

"I said too much," Starfire shook her head, "I must go. Please, have a wonderful nap!" With that Starfire flew down the hall.

Raven shrugged it off and settled into bed. She reached for a Kleenex and blew her nose before rolling over and getting comfortable, or as comfortable as she could get considering. The last thing Raven wanted to do was get involved so she tried to forget about it completely. As she drifted to sleep however Raven vowed to avoid them and ignore them until they gave up and stopped fighting. It felt like it was getting to the point where her life depended on them not being at war with each other.

Raven stayed true to her word. She didn't talk to Beast Boy or Cyborg at all the rest of the day, or the next day, or the day after that. She ignored them completely although they attempted to get her attention several times. All she needed to do was see their icy glares at each other and she knew they were still fighting albeit less vocally than before. The tension within the tower was nauseating, and it was felt by everyone.

"Come on Raven, talk to me. Cy and I called a truce after your choking incident," Beast Boy begged one day, "We're not fighting anymore. Honest!"

Raven didn't reply, she merely turned the page of her latest reading material, Carrie by Stephen King. She caught a glimpse at Cyborg and saw him shoot a wicked glance at Beast Boy. Raven continued reading.

Later Cyborg came up to her while she was reading. "Please talk to me Rae, BB and I called a truce. I'm really sorry about what happened before. We both are. We're not fighting anymore, believe me."

Raven ignored him, catching a quick glance at a jealous looking Beast Boy in the distance. She continued her reading.

And later, while everyone was eating lunch together Beast Boy offered Raven the last slice of pizza. She rose to her feet and began to walk away without a word upon seeing Cyborg's resentful expression.

Even later during Raven's mid-afternoon meditation Cyborg managed to get a slight reaction when he offered her a cup of tea. Remembering what happened last time someone gave her tea Raven jumped slightly then closed her eyes and continued her meditation as though he was never there.

Finally, Robin had enough. Later as everyone except Raven was in the living room Robin gave the feuding friends his advice, "Just give it up and apologize to one another for real or Raven's never going to talk to you again. There's no one in the world better at ignoring someone than she is."

Starfire agreed, "Yes, perhaps you can save your friendship and in turn rescue your friendship with Raven. Do you think that maybe you are all better off being just friends? The silence between you three over the last couple of days is sickening, it is better than constantly arguing but..."

"We can't stand it anymore!" Robin snapped.

"Hey you guys are asking me to give up on Raven? Never! You try giving up pursuing the girl of your dreams and then you'll see how impossible it is!" Beast Boy exclaimed. Cyborg nodded in agreement, one of the first things they agreed on in days.

"Raven has to choose one of us," Cyborg said stubbornly, "We've called truce for Raven's sake, but we will not apologize and make up until she picks one of us."

"You mean you'd be willing to apologize even if she chooses me?" Beast Boy asked.

"Sure, because I know she'll pick me," Cyborg replied, raising his voice.

Robin shook his head, "Here we go again." Starfire banged her head on the wall in frustration.

"Yeah right! You are so full of yourself!" Beast Boy exclaimed, "Everyone knows I am far more charming than you could ever be!"

"Well why don't we find out then?" Cyborg asked.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Let's go then!" Beast Boy challenged as they headed to the roof where Raven was still meditating.

Starfire and Robin exchanged glances and decided to follow just in case it got ugly and they knew it would be.

"All right Raven," Cyborg exclaimed, "We want answers and we want them now!"

Raven opened her eyes and seeing the urgency in their faces she decided to finally acknowledge them. "What?" she asked flatly.

"Who's it gonna be, Cyborg..." Beast Boy asked, saying Cyborg's name with a disgusted frown, "Or me?" he asked sweetly.

Finally it clicked and Raven cast them an icy stare, "Wait a second, let me get this straight, this stupid childish fight of yours is over _me_?" She was dumbfounded.

"Yeah, so who's it gonna be?" Beast Boy asked as he and Cyborg both gave her their most charming smiles.

That was when Raven did something completely unexpected and freaky. She began to laugh. It was the scariest laugh they ever heard, and not just because it was coming from Raven, although that was part of it. Her laugh sounded like it was coming from two different people and it evoked a blazing fire of black energy that surrounded her. Her laugh was angry and frustrated and yet slightly amused. She closed her eyes and threw her head back in a fit of laughter. Suddenly she stopped laughing and lowered head and opened her eyes which now had a freaky red glow. There was a fierce look on her face.

"You mean to tell me that because you two were fighting...over _me_...that I was scalded, caught a cold, bruised my tailbone and nearly choked to death?" Raven demanded as she appeared to grow slightly taller, her cloak seemed to grow slightly longer and darker and everyone ducked for cover. Her voice sounded like two people talking in unison and despite her frustrated anger, there was an underlying sadness in her voice and expression. "Over the past couple of days I suffered at your hands because you two think that you like me? If you really do like me as you seem to think you do, you would've stopped and considered how I feel about all this! And now you expect me to choose one of you so we can live happily ever after? Ha! Dream on!"

Raven's eyes returned to normal, her expression became placid and the swirling black energy surrounding her subsided. "I have to go," she whispered in her normal voice. She ran back inside and into her room without making any eye contact with anyone; she looked betrayed.

Starfire approached Beast Boy and Cyborg calmly and smoothly. She looked them right in the eye and stated, "I do hope you are happy. I am sorry for suggesting that you compete for her affections. I did not think you two would blow it completely. Good luck getting Raven to even speak to you again, let alone go out with one of you. I do not think I wish to speak with you right now and I will not until you learn to be less selfish!" Starfire turned on her heel and stormed back inside, it was clear she was on the verge of tears.

"I knew this would be a bad idea, but I didn't think it would be _this_ bad," Robin said in contempt, "Congratulations. I think you two just managed to break up the team." Robin followed Starfire inside leaving Cyborg and Beast Boy alone on the roof.

They stood in silent guilt for a few moments when once again they began throwing the blame. "Way to go Cyborg!" Beast Boy hissed.

"Hey man this is not my fault. You're the one who insisted we confront Raven!" Cyborg retorted.

"Nuh-uh robot boy! You did! And you made me drop the hot water on Raven, and you made her catch a cold and..."

"Well you're the one who pushed her on her butt and made her choke!"

"No you pushed her! And it was _not _my fault Raven started choking!"

"Well you weren't much help! You didn't even notice she was choking!"

"Neither did you!"

"Touché." Cyborg frowned. Unfortunately that did not stop their fight. "You know I wouldn't have made you spill that water if you didn't _cheat_!!"

"So you admit it!" Beast Boy snapped. "What I did was fair game! There were no rules, remember?"

"I don't care! I thought 'no cheating' was a given!"

Once again their argument became physical, Beast Boy transformed into a gorilla again so the fight was fair game against Cyborg, but just so he could continue arguing he transformed everything but his head. He looked pretty funny that way, but he didn't care. There was nothing funny about the harsh words and punches that were thrown between the former best friends.

Even from her room Raven could hear their argument. She shut her window and that helped drown out some of the noise. She took out her meditation mirror off her dresser. She needed to meditate some more this time with the help of her mirror to get over her temper tantrum. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so upset. Why would they do that to each other? What did they see in her anyway? The worst part was that they destroyed their friendship and were practically killing each other because of her. She would try to break them up but lacked the strength, motivation or control to try.

Meanwhile Starfire and Robin sat in Starfire's room. She was so upset and felt so guilty for what was happening. Uncomfortable, Robin reluctantly found himself comforting her. He didn't know how to act around sobbing girls, but he put his arms around her and stroked her hair and whispered soothing words in her ear. "It's not your fault Star. They should've been more mature about this. Don't blame yourself for their selfishness."

"But it is my fault. This would not have happened if I did not make such a suggestion," Starfire cried.

"You know," Robin said, "Somehow I think this would've happened anyway whether you brought it up or not."

"I was told never to meddle in other people's lives when it came to matters of the heart. On Tamaran that is an unwritten but generally accepted rule," Starfire sighed.

Without knowing what possessed him to do it, Robin gave her a quick peck on the cheek, "You only did what you thought was best."

"Thank you Robin," Starfire said solemnly. She dried her tears and gave Robin a quick hug and put on her happy face. "Who knows, perhaps things will work out in the end anyway."

"I hope so."

Unfortunately it didn't seem like things would ever turn out all right. Beast Boy and Cyborg refused to speak to each other, Robin and Starfire refused to speak to them and after finding out about Starfire's proposition Raven refused to speak to anyone. Titans Tower had quickly become an eerily quiet, unfriendly place to be. If anyone came to visit, they would immediately sense the strong unyielding tension among the Titans.

Later that night after everyone went to bed Raven had a nightmare. She found herself standing between Beast Boy and Cyborg. They each took one of her hands and pulled in the opposite direction. "She's mine!" "No, she's mine!" they exclaimed as they pulled and pulled and poor Raven felt herself being jerked back and forth. She could feel her shoulders become dislocated as Beast Boy and Cyborg pulled her towards them with all their might. She felt defenceless. Raven woke up before they could tear her arms off. When she opened her eyes she caught her breath and shivered. Raven lay in bed wide awake the rest of the night the whole situation was driving her mad. Now she knew what a rope in a ferocious game of tug of war would feel like if it had any feelings. Everyone wants possession of the rope, but no one ever really considers what the rope has to go through.

* * *

A/N Remember dearest readers: A kiss on the hand maybe quite continental, but reviews are a girls best friend...


	5. Everybody Loves Raven

A/N Wowseroonies! So many reviews! Thank you all!

**Instant Coffee:**As if I 'd end a humour fic with angst...Oh I'm so glad you've found this little ficcie of mine! Your reviews are so appreciated, you have no idea. I'm thrilled that you think they're in character, especially Starfire, she's so hard to write because she's so intelligent, but naive. I agree about the punctuation thing, it does make a difference. I'll go over it later and see where I could fix that. One note, sceptical and skeptical are both correct spellings. Sceptical is the British/Canadian spelling, I prefer the 'k', but my computer's auto correct keeps changing it, so I gave up trying to fix it. Also I didn't start writing TT fics because I don't have a TV and until early July when I visited my grandmother in the US for a month and a half, I had never seen it before, so Teen Titans is a recent discovery of mine. I wish I could still watch it, there are still a lot of episodes I haven't seen ,sadly and some of the upcoming ones look good. That's really cool about the CPR class thing. It honours me to hear you say that this could be an episode. Eeps, I'm rambling! I hope you check out my other stuff, your reviews are golden to me! Thank you so much!

**Philosopher:** Just because I tend to write one ship doesn't mean this one will turn out that way. You'll just have to wait and see...

**Kuramie**: You're right, that is a lot easier to type ! I'm, glad you like the tug of war analogy! Thanks for the review!

**mew-xena:** Moulin Rouge rocks, especially the Roxanne scene!

**keystone: **Oh the image of a skinny guy in a fat suit always makes me laugh. Thank you! And thanks for giving Instant Coffee the heads up about my fic. I feel so special.

**Scorpio Serpent:** I'm so happy to hear that! I'm glad the dramedy thing worked for you, I was kinda worried about putting some drama in, but that's the way it seemed to turn out.

Everyone else, thanks for the feedback and here's the update everyone was waiting for!

On with the chapter, enjoy!

* * *

The next day things weren't much better. Robin decided that everyone should go through the obstacle course for training and to let out their frustrations. It worked all right for them, they were able to take out their anger on inanimate objects instead of each other. Unfortunately by the time Robin, who was last in line, went through the course there wasn't much of a course left. 

After training the tension in the tower wasn't nearly as intense as it was before but still, the only two Titans who were talking were Robin and Starfire.

Finally Robin said, "OK, before this entire team officially breaks up from all this madness, I think we should talk, all five of us. No, as leader I _order_ that we discuss this in a civilized manner until we can resolve this!"

"I agree!" Starfire nodded.

Before they could get any response out of Raven, Cyborg or Beast Boy, the alarm went off.

"Oh just lovely," Robin sighed in frustration, "We'll do this later, but duty first. Titans go!" he said with less zeal than usual.

They were called to answer to trouble at the local multiplex. Apparently Control Freak had attacked. When they arrived on the scene Control Freak was there but the theatre had been evacuated, "Check it out Titans! I have a bigger and better remote this time!"

Raven snorted, "Wow. That _is_ a big remote. You must compensating for something."

Control Freak's cheeks turned red as the all the other Titans snickered, "I will choose to ignore that statement sweetheart."

"What do you want this time?" Beast Boy asked. "Do you want your favourite movie to be played in the best theatre or something? Are you going to demand a sequel to 'Howard the Duck' or something stupid like that?"

Control Freak shook his head, "No, I'm in the mood for something more romantic this time. It's been so long, did you miss me Raven?"

Raven raised a brow, "Excuse me?"

"Come on, I know last time we met there was some sort of connection," Control Freak grinned, "You know, a spark of passionate feelings."

"Yeah, of hatred," Raven replied with a scowl.

Control Freak shook his head, "Wrong my little bird. You know, a guy like me can get really lonely. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since we last met. Will you be my girlfriend so we can date and get married and bear my children and make all my friends jealous?" he asked bluntly in a jumble of words.

Cyborg and Beast Boy exchanged angry looks, for the first time in days their anger wasn't directed at each other. "Sick!" Cyborg exclaimed.

Raven lurched, "You have got to be kidding. There is no way in hell I will ever go out with you."

"I was afraid you'd say that," Control Freak sighed, "No matter. Behold Titans! Check out what this little baby can do!" He pressed a few buttons on his new remote and all of a sudden the cardboard cut-out for "Wicked Scary 2" became animate and so did the popcorn machine and the power cords for all the machines came off, plugged into each other and wrapped around Raven's hands before anyone could react. Control Freak grabbed the slack of the cord wrapped around Raven's wrists and pulled her close, "Come on, let's go see a movie my sweet."

"I don't think so!" she hissed, "Azarath, Metrion Zinthos!" she snapped trying to break free of her bonds but her powers reacted to the animated cords and they reflected her power so she ended up zapping herself. She fell down in shock and drifted into semi-consciousness.

"I should've warned you my pet that there's no point in fighting back," he grinned, "New design in the remote, so as you can see, your powers are useless Raven." He pressed a few buttons on his remote and scooped Raven into his arms before they disappeared down the long dark hallway.

"Raven!" Beast Boy and Cyborg shouted, but before anyone could go after them, the objects Control Freak animated began to attack. Robin and Starfire began battling the "Wicked Scary 2" cut-out while Beast Boy and Cyborg found themselves fighting the popcorn machine. The animated inanimate villains were proving to be more challenging than last time.

After a while, the cut-out pushed Robin and Starfire into the box office booth and then folded into itself becoming a harmless piece of cardboard. But when they tried to leave the box office, they were pushed back by an invisible force field. They were trapped.

Robin quickly noticed that the popcorn machine was trying to drive Beast Boy and Cyborg into the concession stand. That was probably where another force field was. "Try to get the popcorn machine back into the concession stand!" Robin told them, "Don't get behind the counter, whatever you do!"

Cyborg and Beast Boy nodded and continued their fight with the popcorn machine. Robin was thankful that as much as they might be fighting with each other, they were both professional enough to let go of personal issues in a time of crisis. They managed to get the popcorn machine back behind the counter where it belonged and it stopped moving, returning to normal.

"Now I'm going to save Raven! You help Robin and Starfire!" Beast Boy exclaimed heading in the direction where Raven and Control Freak went. Cyborg grabbed his shoulder.

"No way! You help Rob and Star, and I'll rescue Raven!"

"I'm going to save Raven!"

"No I am!"

"I am!"

"No me!"

"Me!"

"Me!"

Robin slapped his forehead for thinking too soon. "Will you guys shut up!" he yelled, "Starfire and I are fine, we'll find a way out on our own! Both of you go help Raven and stop fighting already! We're on the same team remember!? Do I have to remind you how to work together? You know, for two people who claim to love Raven like you do, you would think they'd get their priorities straight when it comes to her friggin' safety at least!"

Both Beast Boy and Cyborg bowed their heads in shame. Robin was right. They looked at each other, "Come on Cy, let's go," Beast Boy said in a soft, small voice.

Cyborg nodded and they reluctantly shook hands before running after Raven and Control Freak.

Starfire sighed, "Courtship on Earth is confusing. I do not understand why any human would want to date anyone yet most humans seem to really want to date and fall in love."

"Well, dating is fun, and what is the problem with being in love anyway?" Robin asked.

"On Tamaran love is a wonderful, beautiful thing, but here it is chaotic," Starfire said, "love is dangerous here."

Robin smirked, "This coming from a girl whose home planet's custom has guys fighting to the death?"

"Unless they come up with an alternative solution. They almost _always_ come up with an alternative solution," Starfire clarified.

Robin nodded, accepting her answer, "Well, love makes people here on Earth do crazy things."

"I have to agree with you Robin. You know, on Tamaran it is considered an honour when to males fight over a female, they go through trials while the girl is rewarded. However, I am so glad I am not wearing Raven's shoes right now," she sighed. "It seems here on Earth when two, or now in this case, three males wish to date a female, she is the one who must go through the trials and tribulations."

"Believe me Star, this is unusual even for Earth. In most cases falling in love is wonderful," he explained, "Problem with love is that it's complicated."

"I see," Starfire replied softly, as they made eye contact. They gazed into each other's eyes for a moment before quickly looking away blushing.

"Shall we uh... try to find a way out?" Robin asked tugging nervously at his collar, "You know, before our friends kill each other?"

Meanwhile Control Freak carried Raven into a dark theatre and locked the doors and sat her down. He sat beside her and put his arm around her. Poor Raven was too weak to resist him, she was still trying to come back to her senses after zapping herself. "So Raven, don't you think we'd make the perfect couple?"

"No," Raven muttered.

Control Freak's expression angered, "Oh your feelings will change when I'm finished."

"What are you going to do?" Raven demanded, struggling in vain to wiggle out of her bonds.

"I am going to make you love me," Control Freak said simply. He held up his remote and pointed it at the projection booth, "Now, let's watch the movie shall we?" He pressed a button on his remote. The screen lit up and she watched the numbers "5, 4, 3, 2..." come on the screen and then cut into Control Freak's movie.

His face appeared on screen, "Hello Raven my pet," he said as the background turned into a swirling black and white kaleidoscope and the camera lifted up so that a majority of the picture was of the hypnotic background and on the bottom of the screen was a close-up of Control Freak's eyes. The caption on the screen said, "A Mad Mod Production..."

"It was so easy to persuade Mad Mod to direct for me too thanks to this baby." Control Freak said kissing his remote.

Raven rolled her eyes, _Oh please..._

The title "Raven and Control Freak Forevah!" appeared on the screen.

"He is after all a genius when it comes to hypnosis. In fact this movie is specially designed to work only on you," Control Freak bragged, "When the movie is over you'll love me and all my D and D friends will be like, so jealous!"

Not wanting to be hypnotized into falling for Control Freak and becoming his arm candy, Raven closed her eyes tightly and focused her energy on something else, anything. She tried escape the tightly wound cords that were binding her wrists together but she was beginning to feel her skin become raw from the friction. She repeated her mantra in her mind over and over again to try and protect herself from hypnosis and maybe figure out a way to break free without zapping herself again.

Control Freak noticed she wasn't watching so he lowered his arm from around her shoulders and elbowed her harshly in the ribs. Raven's eyes shot open, startled. "Pay attention my little bird! We're coming to my favourite part!"

Raven looked away anyway turning her head away from the screen and away from Control Freak, "Why are you doing this? Why do you want me to fall in love with you anyway?" She asked calmly with a slight irritation in her voice.

"Because we had a connection," Control Freak hissed, "And you're hot and all my friends on the internet and at D and D made a bet that I would never get a girlfriend, certainly none as hot as you."

Raven wanted to hurl because of the comment and at the same time wanted to laugh at his pathetic excuse but that would make her powers act up and she'd only end up attacking herself. "You're an idiot, do you realize that?"

Control Freak put one arm around her shoulders and forcefully pushed her head to face the screen and held her jaw with his other hand tightly and angrily so she wouldn't be able to pull back and she'd have to watch, "Watch the screen honey!"

Raven closed her eyes.

"Don't make me force your eyes open," Control Freak warned shaking her jaw, forcing her to attention.

All Raven could do was try to meditate and put up her mental defence shield with her eyes open and hope that the hypnotic suggestions on the screen wouldn't affect her. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. As powerful as her mind was, it was possible for Raven to fall under hypnosis. Especially if she was in a situation like she was in, she was forced to look at the screen, and with the effect her bonds had with her powers, fighting it mentally was hard to do without activating her defensive powers. She fought the hypnotic suggestions on the screen until different areas in her mind turned off and there was only one thing left on her mind.

She suddenly seemed to relax and Control Freak let go of her jaw and watched her. She let out a relaxed sigh and her eyelids drooped, but she wasn't closing her eyes to avoid looking at the screen anymore. She looked at him, her eyes glazed over and she smiled as she reached up and ran her fingers through his greasy hair. She put her bound hands over Control Freak's head so her arms were wrapped around him. She closed her eyes slowly and her lips furrowed, parting slightly as she tilted her head and leaned in to kiss him.

At that moment Beast Boy and Cyborg burst in and gaped in horror. They both wanted to puke as they watched the silhouettes of Raven and Control Freak begin to get intimate in the movie screen's hypnotic light.

* * *

A/N Ew! Ew! Ew! I can't believe I wrote that! Raven/Control Freak? I never would've thought. Bet that's never been done before though. 

I once knew this guy, who dated this girl who's sister didn't leave a review, and one week later her computer crashed. And there was this girl who worked with this guy who's ex-girlfriend read a story and left a review and she just saved a bundle on her car insurance by switching to Geico. So please leave a review. Who knows what a review can do for you!

**Shameless plug alert!** Read "Crimson Moon", it's a werewolf story of mine, but it's more romance, mystery and suspence than anything. It's my big TT project and I'd be so happy if it got more feedback. Thank you. Have a splendiforously good day!


	6. Chasing Raven

A/N OK, I'm not really happy with this chapter. I think it's because I think it's kind of a cheesy, cliched type of chapter and I don't think I'm very skilled in writing action. I hope you all enjoy it though, sometimes I'm way to critical of my work so... egads, I am babbling...again!

**NatashaTeenTitan: **I'm glad you liked the chapter title. I was half worried that no one would catch the reference even though it is obvious. And yes, it is scary.

**Kuramie**: You shall find out in due time, my friend. For now, patience, we still have to deal with the icky competition. (ie Control Freak)

**mew-xena**: Thank you so much for reviewing all my work. I'm glad you like Crimson Moon. That one should be updated in a day or so. Yay for originality! I just hope I don't start some freaky trend causing all these Rae/CF stories to pop up. (shudders at the thought)

**SuNsHiNe10: **I love the Rob/Star moments myself. They really do make a sweet couple. Thanks for the review. What more do I want you ask...? An all expense paid trip to Hawaii would be nice... or more reviews LOL!!

**Philosopher:** I love those Geico commercials. Anyway, sadly I haven't seen the Mad Mod episode, nor do I think I'll ever get a chance now (I don't have a TV) which is too bad, the episode looks like it was a good one. Although I read a surprisingly racy Teen Titans comic with him. I don't know which one though. Thanks for the 'highly recommend' thing, I'm so very flattered. (btw, what does that button do anyway?)

**Instant Coffee:** I got your e-mail. I won't be able to get messenger until I get internet access of my own. (I use the library computers for now) Yay for liking the chapter title! I was admittedly proud of that one meself. And I can't believe I missed 'be' in that line! And it was probably my favourite line in the chapter too. Thanks for pointing out the typo. I'll fix that when I get the chance. I'm glad you loved the comeback too. (does happy dance) You know what's sad about Control Freak? He's so much like this guy I used to work with (except the guy I used to work with is not an icky creepy villain...well he is icky, and creepy...and oh nevermind.)

**keystone:** Fiery phoenix of love...hmmm. Love it!! Thanks for the compliments, I was worried about that chapter, so I was surprised and giddy when you said it was one of my better chapters. Thanks . Expect more Rob/Star moments in the next chapter, though there isn't much in this one. Glad you like the little fluffiness.

**Raven A. Star: **Eeparoonies! I barely had the chapter uploaded and there was a review from you! Do you like, wait by the computer for my stories to pop up? (Although I really don't mind...) Thanks so much for being such a faithful reviewer! They bring me joy! Sorry to make you sick. The whole CF/Rae thing grosses me out too.

**Kat097, purplerave, MirokuAnna, Scorpio Serpent and anyone else I may have missed**: Thanks for the reviews!

OK friends! On with the show..er...chapter.

* * *

A huge part of Control Freak couldn't believe his luck and he was surprised how well his plan worked but there was Raven leaning in about to kiss him. He reached into his pocket and took out his camera. He leaned into her, parting his lips slightly and they began to kiss. He put his arms around her and stood up, pulling her up with him since her hands were still tightly bound together and draped over his shoulders. She was so out of it though, that it numbed her powers and they did nothing which wouldn't be the case if her mind was her own. As they kissed Control Freak took a picture. Raven was too out of it to notice. 

"Raven!"

Control Freak turned at the sound of such a horrified cry. He saw Cybrog and Beast Boy race towards them. "How did you escape?" Control Freak demanded, he shook his head, "No matter, Raven is mine!"

Beast Boy and Cyborg noticed the dazed look in Raven's eyes and the hypnotic optical illusions on the screen confirmed their suspicions as to explain why Raven had her arms around Control Freak, "Raven snap out of it!" Beast Boy cried.

Raven just rested her head on Control Freak's shoulder in a daze.

Cyborg looked up in the projection booth, "We have to turn off the movie!"

"No!" Control Freak snapped, he pressed a button on his remote and the back row of seats began to attack them. He gave Raven a quick peck and she lazily tilted her head to watch the movie while the others fought the newly animated seats. "If they stop the movie you'll be yourself again, we can't have that, can we precious?" Raven shook her head and gently nibbled his ear. "But don't worry my sweet. Once the closing credits finish rolling, the effects will be irreversible and you'll be mine forever." He kissed Raven's cheek.

"Did you hear that Cy?" Beast Boy asked with a horrified gasp as he pushed a particularly violent chair off of himself.

"Sure did," Cyborg replied as he blasted a couple of advancing chairs. "We can't let that happen!"

"You hold these chairs off and I'll stop the movie," Beast Boy said, Cyborg nodded as he blasted the window to the projection booth for him. Beast Boy flew inside.

"OK, where's the off switch?" he muttered to himself.

"Hurry Beast Boy, the credits are starting!" Cyborg hissed while blasting a few more renegade chairs as the words 'the end' flashed on the screen.

"I'm hurrying!" Beast Boy snapped back as he turned into a gorilla and smashed the projector.

Meanwhile Control Freak whispered to Raven, "Well sweetie, did you enjoy?"

Raven nodded. Still standing and with Raven still tied up with her arms around Control Freak, they kissed again. At that moment the room went dark as the movie stopped. Beast Boy turned on the lights and Raven snapped out of her trance, finding herself locking lips with Control Freak. "Ahh!" Raven screamed, jumping back but since she was stuck to Control Freak there was only so far she could go. In disgust, shock, horror and anger Raven accidentally released some of her power and like before, it reflected back to her and once again she ended up attacking herself. This time it was so strong it knocked her out. She fell into Control Freak, remaining supported by her bound hands around his neck.

Beast Boy flew back into the theatre as Cyborg snapped, "Let her go Control Freak!"

"Yeah!" Beast Boy nodded in rage

"You ruined my movie!" Control Freak hissed in a fury glaring at Cyborg and Beast Boy, "But no matter! I have a spare copy at home." He pressed a few more buttons on his remote and lifted Raven's limp form into his arms, "So long Titans! We'll send you a post card on our honeymoon!" He ran off as every seat in the auditorium came to life and advanced on Cyborg and Beast Boy, allowing little time to react.

Beast Boy transformed into a hawk and began to fly after them.

Cyborg, unable to fly, therefore unable to escape the animated seats found himself being smothered by the chairs, "BB! Help me!" he cried trying in vain to fight them off. There were just too many for him to fight them alone as they were all attacking at once, and he couldn't fight his way through the way they were going at him.

Beast Boy stopped and turned to see Cyborg was in danger. He looked back towards Raven and Control Freak, his heart ached to see Raven with anyone other than him, but he would rather she be with anyone but Control Freak. It sickened him to think of her being with someone so disgusting against her will. For her to be with anyone against her will was just plain wrong. He hesitated and started to go after them but he stole another glance Cyborg's way. He was losing. With another look in Raven's direction he landed and turned back into his normal form long enough to say, "Hang on Cy!"

Since there wasn't enough room to turn into a flying animal big enough to carry Cyborg over the mountain of chairs, Beast Boy turned into a mammoth. He fought his way to Cyborg tossing the mass of chairs aside as they savagely attacked him. He reached Cyborg who climbed onto Beast Boy's back and they pushed their way through, Cyborg fired at them with his sonic blasts, keeping the chairs off of him and Beast Boy who used his trunk and tusks to fend them off. Once they were out of the mountain of attacking chairs Beast Boy turned back to his normal form and collapsed with exhaustion having taken quite a beating in his attempt to rescue Cyborg. The chairs that were still intact began to pursue them so Cyborg picked Beast Boy up and raced out of the theatre to follow Control Freak and Raven.

Cyborg and Beast Boy were out in the parking lot and saw Control Freak throw Raven into his piece of junk he called a car and speed off. Cyborg carried Beast Boy to the T-car and the two sped after them. Although by the time they got out of the parking lot, they had a lot of catching up to do.

"Why didn't you leave me behind Cy?" Beast Boy asked, "I just slowed you down."

"You know I could ask you the same question," Cyborg said as they sped around a corner in pursuit. "Thanks for saving my life back there."

"No problem," Beast Boy replied, "I mean I couldn't leave you there at the mercy of those stupid seats. Besides, uh... I wanted to make sure I can see your face when I save Raven and picks me... Oh um, thanks for not leaving me behind."

"Yeah well, I just wanted you to be there when I save Raven from Control Freak," Cyborg shrugged casually. "You know, so I can gloat when she picks me for being her hero."

"Stop kidding yourself," Beast Boy snickered, "She's totally going to pick me after I save her from Control Freaks clutches."

"Nuh-uh," Cyborg shook his head as he sped around a corner.

"Yah-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!'

"Yah-huh!"

As they started to catch up with Control Freak's car the feuding friends stopped and sighed. This was getting ridiculous. Here Raven was in the clutches of the geekiest villain of them all who wanted to maker her his love toy and arm candy and yet they were still fighting over her. The both realized at the same time how stupid they were being. Seeing Raven in the situation she was in with Control Freak suddenly put things in perspective for them both.

"You really do like her don't you?" they both asked each other in unison. They both grinned.

"I guess we'd better start showing it and stop fighting with each other," Beast Boy suggested.

Cyborg nodded, "Yeah. Everything was fine until we started fighting over her. I wouldn't be surprised if she hates us both now."

"Yeah, after all we did to her just to upstage each other... and then placing the blame on each other...that was pretty immature of us after all," Beast Boy agreed.

"Well lets make it up to her and put our differences aside for now and work together to save her. I'd rather see her with anyone other than Control Freak right now, even you, so...yeah..." Cyborg said.

Beast Boy nodded in agreement, "Me too, so truce then? For real this time?"

"Yeah. How are you feeling BB? Are you hurt?" Cyborg asked.

"No," Beast Boy replied, "I feel better already. Those lameo chairs just tired me out is all."

"Feel up to flying ahead and stopping Control Freak's so-called car?" Cyborg asked as they turned into a quiet street in the suburbs. "We'll corner them."

Beast Boy nodded, "No problem!" Cyborg stopped momentarily for Beast Boy to jump out. He quickly transformed into a pterodactyl and flew after Control Freak's car.

Meanwhile Robin and Starfire had been trying to get past the force field with no avail. Finally they decided to give up and wait.

"So how do you think the others are doing?" Starfire asked, subconsciously taking Robin's hand and stroking the back of his hand gently with her thumb, "Do you think they are succeeding?"

"I hope so," Robin said, as he squeezed her hand affectionately. He didn't seem too sure.

"You do not think so," Starfire stated.

"Well, now that there is not two, but three people fighting over Raven, either they're all going to kill each other, or Raven will kill them all," Robin said.

Starfire smiled, "Nonsense, no one is going to kill anyone."

Robin laughed, "I guess you're right. I'm worrying too much." They both shared a giggle but then stopped thoughtfully for a moment. They exchanged worried glances and tried again to break through the force field.

Raven opened her eyes and found herself sitting in a smelly old car, surrounded by garbage. She looked over to see Control Freak at the wheel as they sped down the road. She discreetly tried to free herself from the cord still tightly bound around her wrists but she had no such luck. Raven felt like throwing up she felt so nauseous. Not only was the smell of the inside of the car and Control Freak's body odour revolting, but she had a foul taste in her mouth from kissing him. What in the heck was that guy eating before he tried to hypnotize her?! Her taste buds were picking up a bizarre blend of garlic and peanut butter. She already planned that the first thing she was going to do when she got out of this mess was brush her teeth, rinse her mouth out with Listerine and repeat a few times.

She caught a glimpse of the T-car in the side mirror and saw Beast Boy get out and transform to pursue by air. Catching on to what they were going to do Raven reached up and awkwardly fastened her seat belt. It caught Control Freak's attention.

"Oh good, you're up!" he grinned. Control Freak stopped suddenly and turned the corner, trying to lose his pursuers. Raven caught a glimpse of the T-car as it missed the turn. She heard a screech and after a couple of seconds she saw it and Beast Boy's green pterodactyl again. "Those guys just don't give up do they?" Control Freak muttered.

"I'll have you know that unlike you, they actually do like me and they're not going to give up, ever," Raven said icily. "They may be idiots like you, but at least their feelings are genuine. They don't want me just to impress some loser friends who probably aren't even friends at all. I don't think you have any friends and that's why you waste your time pursuing meaningless entertainment as you drown in denial and try to get people like me to like you. Well, I pity you Control Freak, because you're going about it the wrong way." The calm hatred and sympathy in Raven's voice was enough to make Control Freak hostile.

"Shut up!" Control Freak hissed. He raised his hand as though he was about to hit her as a warning, Raven didn't even flinch and that made him even more angry, "I do so have friends! You are mine now and I will not tolerate those lies."

"I don't belong to anyone," Raven said defiantly.

Meanwhile Beast Boy managed to catch up to the high speed car and swooped down and sank his talons into the roof of the car, careful to grab the back end so he wouldn't endanger Raven. Control Freak's car came to a sudden halt. Having succeeded in stopping the car, Beast Boy turned back to his normal form as Cyborg pulled up and jumped out of the T- car.

Control Freak quickly undid his and Raven's seatbelts and yanked her out the door on the drivers side by pulling the cord around her wrists. Raven made an involuntary cry of pain as the cord rubbed against her raw skin. She twisted herself so that when she fell out of the car and onto the pavement she would land on her back and not face first. Control Freak harshly lifted her to her feet and held her close kissing her cheek as he stood behind her. Raven cringed.

"Let Raven go, _now_!" Cyborg warned as he and Beast Boy advanced.

Finally, something inside him snapped and Control Freak began to freak out. Realizing he was pretty much caught, he decided desperate times call for desperate measures. He reached into his inside coat pocket and pulled out a dagger and pressed the blade against Raven's throat, "One move Titans and this blade slices her jugular and then no one will get Raven. I don't want to kill her but it's a sacrifice I am willing to make. Understand?" Pure insanity was evident in his eyes.

Beast Boy and Cyborg stopped dead in their tracks and Raven looked annoyed, helpless and downright pissed off. She wanted to fight back, but her powers would only work against her and any sudden movement of self defence would be deadly. She relaxed, giving up. She was having the worst week of her life and for a moment, she no longer cared if he killed her or not.

* * *

More A/N goodness! Only two more chapters to go! Thank you for your support and reviews! I apologize to Raven and my dearest readers for making her endure the horror of kissing Control Freak. I think I was possessed when I wrote that. Yes. That will be my excuse. Nothing witty today just, please, for the love of all that is fluffy, review! It will bring me joy. Thank you. That is all. 

-I am Zoe Rose and I approve this message.


	7. Hell Hath No Fury Like a Raven Adored

A/N Sorry it took so long for an update. I didn't get a chance to access the internet for about a week so... I apologize profusely. I also apologize to all you wonderful readers and reviewers for...let's say grossing you out. I still cannot believe I put dear Raven through such icky agnoy. But this chapter gets somewhat better for her.

**Raven A. Star:** I'm sorry, I love writing cliffies, it makes people want more. And I love reading cliffies too (provided I'm not left waiting three years). Cliffies are fun. Thanks as always for the (quick) review!

**mew-xena**: They were embarrassing you? They were embarassing me! Tsk, boys. So immature, especially BB and Cy. They needed to make up sooner or later.

**Instant Coffee:** Really? You liked how I put Raven in a position where she can't fight back? That was one of the things I didn't like about the last chapter. Seemed too contrived to me. But I'm glad you liked it, it makes me feel so much better about the last chapter. And I still can't believe I put Raven in such an icky position...am I really the first to do that? Yay for originality then...I think. I just hope people don't think I'm a Raven basher, she's my favourite. I'm glad I've managed to keep the characters in character. I worry about that since I've only seen a few random episodes in the first and second season and won't be able to see any more in the near future. (Sigh) Eeps, I'm rabling... again. One more thing my friend, (I hate to do this) could you R&R my other TT stuff too...when you get the chance of course. I need more critique on them than I've been getting and your reviews ROCK! Oh and update "Mind Games" ASAP please, I'm always checking. It's awesome. And I giggled with giddy glee when you quoted me on your profile. Oh and I hate typos! They're the evilness! Thanks as always for the review!

**Clouded Dragon:** Yay! Cookies! Thanks a bunch! And yes, Control Freak is a freak. A big freak with a remote control. Thats why his name is fitting. Thanks for the review!

**Philosopher:** While I'm glad that I wrote something memorable, I'm sorry it had to be waking up in the car to _that_. I don't know what it would be like to be adored by three guys either. But I think if it's anything like this story, it would definately suck. Thanks for the clarification on the recommended fics...thing. Sorry about the cliffie. Thanks a bunch for the reviews.

**Scorpio Serpent:** Not much to say but thanks for the review.

**Kuramie:** You're not crazy, it's everyone else who is normal. That's what's crazy. Thanks for the review!

**Keystone:** Thanks for the CC. I agree about the chase. But according to reviews I've recieved in the past, my strong points are writing emotion and dialogue and my weak points in writing is writing action. I love good action, and detail is great. I like good detail. Most of my stuff has more detail but I wanted to keep the pace up in this though. I truely appreciate the CC. I'm so pleased that you liked the last chapter even though for the most part I didn't (maybe I am too critical.) And dude, you totally spoiled my ending! How did you know Raven was going to chose Slade? Did you hack into my computer or something? (Kidding. Raven's real choice will be revealed soon.)

**SuNsHiNe10:** Thanks for the review. You like Rob/Star huh? Then you will _love_ this chapter. (I hope) Now before you bite your nails off completely in anticipation, I have updated. Thanks for reviewing! Sorry for the ickiness.

**NatashaTeenTitan: **Your review made me laugh. So random! I'm glad you enjoyed. Sorry to gross you out.

**Kat097:** I'm sorry for giving you nightmares! Though that is I suppose an incredible feat. I like writing scary stories, but I never anitcipated this would be the one to cause nightmares. Whadd'ya know? You want more? Here it is!

* * *

Beast Boy and Cyborg stopped and watched Control Freak carefully, eyeing the dagger in his hand, and the crazed look in his eyes. One sudden move and his dagger would slice Raven's throat, "Hey man, whoa take it easy, don't hurt her," Beast Boy begged as he dared to take a step.

Control Freak pressed the dagger's blade against her skin, drawing a small amount of blood, "One more move I swear..." Raven watched Beast Boy and Cyborg with a calm expression on her face. She wasn't afraid, but she was still disgusted. She could still taste his kiss. She stood still, trying not to move or breathe.

"I thought you liked Raven," Cyborg said, "I thought you wanted to make her love you..."

"I do!" Control Freak hissed.

"Well what good is there in killing her then? All your efforts would be in vain!" Beast Boy added.

Control Freak paused, "Not really, I have proof to show my friends that we were together. This time tomorrow, the picture of her and I making out will be all over the net and everyone will know that I can be a ladies man. Besides, like I said, a sacrifice I am willing to make!" He wrapped his arm around her neck and squeezed, blocking off her air as he backed up a step. He still had the dagger in his other hand pressed against the exposed skin on her neck. Raven was leaning back into him awkwardly, her hands were holding his arm that was strangling her, feebly trying to pull it away.

The Titans were all in an undesirable position. Raven, for reasons that were obvious and the boys for being in a position where they couldn't get to her or help her. One move and Control Freak would kill her and he was using Raven as a shield so Cyborg couldn't blast the weasel. If only there was a way to distract him, to get Control Freak away from Raven, or at least release his grip... Beast Boy and Cyborg exchanged conspiring glances, "Way to go Cyborg!"

"What did I do?" Cyborg demanded.

"Oh you know perfectly well! This is all your fault!"

"My fault? My fault?!" Cyborg chortled, "No BB, this is totally your fault. If you would've just let me go rescue Raven in the first place instead of slowing me down like you always do, I could've saved Raven before it came to this!"

"And let you be the hero and get the girl? No way!" Beast Boy snapped. Raven looked utterly betrayed and horrified, she couldn't believe they were starting up again at a time like this. Control Freak looked confused, "You know I could say the same thing about you! If I didn't have to save your sorry metal butt back there..."

"Hey! You know I don't get you! You seem to think that you can have Raven when everyone knows I liked her first!" Cyborg hissed.

"Nuh-uh! I liked her a lot longer than you did!"

"Oh yeah? Well I liked her for over a year! I liked her since we went in Raven's head!"

"I liked her longer than that! Ever since we first encountered the HIVE so there!!!" Beast Boy blew a raspberry.

"So you went out with Terra when you liked Raven? Obviously you don't like Raven as much as I do, because I would never date one girl when I liked another. Raven and I should be together because at least I'm _loyal_!!!" Cyborg said, "So then it's settled, Raven is mine!"

"No way man!" Beast Boy hissed, "She's mine!"

"She's mine!"

"She's mine!"

"She is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

Control Freak lowered his dagger and loosened his grip around Raven's neck. She gasped and coughed as she caught her breath. "Enough!" Control Freak snapped, yelling over Raven's coughs and the boys arguing as he waved his dagger around. They stopped to look at him. Seeing as though Control Freak finally had their attention again he said, "In case you haven't noticed, Raven is mine! She's my girlfriend now!"

"No way!" Beast Boy hissed.

"Hey man, she's with me! I'm the villain, I'm the one who has her in my arms! I'm the one who made out with her!" Control Freak pointed out. All three Titans gagged from the last statement, especially Raven who wanted to hurl.

"She's mine!"

"Mine!"

"No she belongs to me!"

"Fine!" Beast Boy said, "I propose we made a deal."

"What?" Cyborg asked.

"We fight over her," Beast Boy replied.

"Isn't that what we're doing?" Cyborg asked, sounding like a lame potential buyer in a commercial.

"Yeah, isn't that what we're doing?" Control Freak raised a brow.

"So glad you asked that!" Beast Boy exclaimed sounding like an infomercial announcer. "I say we have a little contest."

"Winner take all?" Control Freak asked. Beast Boy and Cyborg nodded. "What sort of contest?" Control Freak let go of Raven giving her a shove and stepped towards them curiously. Raven glared at the three boys furiously.

"I am _not_ a prize to be won!" Raven hissed. She grabbed Control Freak's remote and kneed him in the groin. As he doubled over in pain, she backed away a few steps. In a fury she threw the remote on the ground and stomped on it. The cord unravelled around her wrists and fell harmlessly to the ground. Beast Boy and Cyborg looked relieved to see her free from his grasp at last but stopped when they saw the look in Raven's eyes as she glared at all three of them. She looked beyond mad.

"I do not believe you! How dare you guys fight over me as though I'm some sort of thing, an object you can use! Have you even once considered how I feel about all this? No! I'm a human being damnit! I am not anyone's trophy!" A black flame rose up behind her and she held her arms out to the side sending a wall of black energy to encase the four of them in a small space.

"Raven what are you doing?!" Cyborg demanded as all three boys cowered in fear.

Raven smiled wickedly, "I'm going to give you boys a crash course on women. You want to win over a girl's heart? For starters you try to show some interest in her!" A couple of streetlights exploded. "You show interest in what she wants, in who she is, in what she likes. You form a relationship, you make sacrifices, you treat her with respect and dignity and she will do the same in return. You do _not_ scald her, make her sick, stand by idly while she chokes to death, you do _not_ kidnap her and hypnotize her into liking you and you do not disregard her feelings and fight over her like she's some prize to be won!"

Control Freak's car was thrown at them, they ducked and it missed, but it seemed like she was aiming to scare. They all figured that she wasn't going to kill them until _after_ her speech.

"You do not ruin friendships for her by fighting over her behind her back! If you wanted to go out with me you could've just _asked_!" A few more streetlights exploded as Raven turned to Control Freak, "Well not you, you're a villain and a vile one at that, and I'd never give you the time of day... willingly." Control Freak frowned despite the utter fear he was feeling. "You guys said you want me to choose? Well guess what! I choose _no one_!!! You all disgust me with your methods!! Now give me one good reason why I should show any mercy? Goodness knows I haven't seen any from you the past few days!"

Beast Boy and Cyborg erased all fear from their expression, though they were still terrified, and both looked at her sincerely. "You're right Raven," Beast Boy said, "we've been jerks lately. I'm so, so, so sorry!"

"Me too," Cyborg added, "We didn't really realize how big of jerks we were until Control Freak came into the picture and put things into perspective. BB and I made up and apologized before we got here. I think we get it now. I mean, now I think we understand what we put you through."

"Yeah, we only kept the act up to distract Control Freak," Beast Boy said, "And it worked, I mean it did give you a chance to get his remote." he grinned slyly.

"Hey!" Control Freak snapped indignantly. "You guys tricked me?!"

Raven's face softened.

"We don't blame you if you hate us now for what we did," Cyborg continued. "we were wrong."

"And we were both being really selfish. You shouldn't be forced to be with anyone," Beast Boy added.

Raven relaxed, partially because she was beginning to forgive them, and partially out of exhaustion. Her wall of power began to wither away.

"We promise we won't put you in this position again," Cyborg said.

"We just hope that you forgive us," Beast Boy bowed his head.

Raven replied, "I forgive you, on one condition..." they both gave her their full attention. She smirked slightly, "Make that two. First and foremost, you two have to promise to never let me or any other girl get in the way of your friendship. Seeing you two go at each other like enemies on my account was probably the hardest part. Secondly, you two owe me big. Say...hmmm... I can't believe I'm saying this but... say, dinner at a restaurant of my choosing?"

Cyborg and Beast Boy brightened. Control Freak growled in jealousy.

"No!" Control Freak cried, pulling out another remote, "Ha ha! I'll bet you didn't expect me to have a spare!" He pressed a button and reanimated the power cord which flew towards Raven, "You are mine Raven!" Control Freak hissed, "I am not going to give you up that easily."

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven attacked and black energy surrounded the cord, stopping it mid-air. As she spoke Beast Boy transformed into an eagle and flew up behind Control Freak and grabbed his coat collar pulling him back, as Cyborg blasted the remote out of his hands.

Raven sent the cord after Control Freak and telepathically wrapped it around his hands tying it securely, "This isn't over!" Control Freak muttered as Raven firmly grabbed the slack of the cord so he couldn't run away.

"I think it is," Raven spat as she made his camera explode, destroying the evidence of their encounter, "I wonder what the sentence will be for kidnapping, assault, reckless driving, and attempted murder?"

"You's goin' to jail Control Freak!" Beast Boy taunted like a hillbilly, "and you're going to be there for a long time!"

"Shut up!" Control Freak hissed before he suddenly sneezed. And sneezed, and sneezed, and sneezed. He sniffled.

"Oh by the way," Raven said, "I'm still getting over a nasty cold. I guess you caught it now."

Laughing, Beast Boy and Cyborg high-fived each other. In a last, pathetic attempt at escape and revenge Control Freak lunged into Raven pushing her to the ground. She landed on her back with a hard thud. "Ow!" she muttered as Control Freak started to run away.

"Hey Raven are you OK?" Cyborg asked while Beast Boy started to go after Control Freak.

Raven nodded as she pushed herself to a sitting position and mentally tied up Control Freak's legs with the slack of the cord, stopping him in his tracks, causing him to fall face first into the pavement. She was about to push herself back on her feet when Cyborg reached out his hand, "Here let me help you up!" She reached for his hand when Beast Boy stopped him.

"No!" he exclaimed as he ran over and outstretched his hand, "Let me help you up!"

"No me!"

"Me!"

Raven looked appalled and recoiled her hand and glared at them. The boys laughed, "We're just kidding!" Beast Boy grinned.

They both held out their hands and Raven put one hand in Cyborg's and one hand in Beast Boy's and they both helped her to her feet. "Real funny," Raven rolled her eyes dryly but smiled slightly. They headed to the T-car which miraculously survived Raven's temper tantrum unlike Control Freak's pile of junk as the police arrived to take Control Freak away.

"Come on, let's go home," Cyborg said.

"Hey, where are Robin and Starfire?" Raven asked.

Cyborg and Beast Boy looked at each other. Truth be told, they forgot all about them. "Uhhhhhh....."

Elsewhere, Robin and Starfire, having given up long ago trying to break through the force field trapping them in the box office at the movie theatre, sat lazily against the wall. They had no idea the force field was long since disabled. To pass the time they had been playing Rock, Paper Scissors before they got tired of that and unexpectedly began having a surprisingly deep conversation about friendship and love, but now they sat in thoughtful silence. Robin had his arm around Starfire who rested her head on his shoulder while fiddling with a paper clip she found on the floor. "Robin?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"What do you suppose is taking the others so long?"

"Well my guess is that either Control Freak, Cyborg and Beast Boy all killed each other in this giant free for all, or Raven went all _Carrie_ on their butts and killed them all," he replied.

Starfire put her head back on his shoulder and sighed sadly, "I imagine you are correct."

They sighed and then smiled at each other. Neither of them really believed it would go that far. Looking away quickly, his cheeks pink, Robin frowned, "I'm bored. What do you want to do now?"

Starfire shrugged and once again their eyes met. They held their gaze for a moment. Suddenly Starfire giggled slightly and gently placed her lips on his cheek.

"Um, is it me or is it getting hot in here?" Robin asked, nervously giving her a kiss on the forehead. Starfire grinned, her green eyes sparkled with giddiness.

Meanwhile the T-car pulled into the theatre parking lot again and Beast Boy, Raven and Cyborg jumped out. "Hey when can we go back in?" the manager asked. "Is the threat over? I've got a business to run you know!"

"Soon," Cyborg said, "We just have to double check to make sure it's safe." With that the three Titans ran into the theatre to rescue their friends, should they need it. When Robin and Starfire didn't answer when he tried to contact them a few moments ago they had begun to worry.

"Do you think maybe that force field thingy is still activated?" Beast Boy asked.

"I don't know BB," Cyborg replied, "If it is I'm sure I could..." He stopped when they looked inside the box office and saw, more like caught, Robin and Starfire in an embarrassing position. Starfire was partially leaning against the counter wall and Robin was lying beside her, partially on top of her in the middle of a rather passionate kiss. Starfire's hands were on Robin's chest and Robin had one hand placed behind her neck and the other reaching up her shirt. The boys began to snicker.

"'Just friends,' huh?" Beast Boy smirked, interrupting them.

Robin startled, "Guys! Hi! You're alive! Great! We were getting worried!" Both Robin and Starfire were red in the face, completely embarrassed.

"Uh huh," Raven nodded dryly, "It sure looks like it."

Starfire regained her composure as she jumped to her feet, taking Robin's hand and pulling him up with her, "We are elated to see that you are safe!" when she realized she was still holding Robin's hand they let go and blushed.

"We can see that," Cyborg snickered. "Come on, the force field should be deactivated."

Smoothing her hair Starfire led the way as she and Robin walked out of the small booth, their cheeks were still flushed from embarrassment.

"So are you three cool now?" Robin asked, desperate to change the subject. They nodded.

"Yes," Cyborg grinned, "I can't believe it, while we were busting our butts trying to defeat Control Freak, you two were getting it on in a movie theatre box office!" He and Beast Boy burst into a fit of laughter as they high-fived each other.

"Shut up!" Robin hissed.

"Are you all right Raven?" Starfire asked, as Robin chased Beast Boy and Cyborg out of the theatre.

Raven nodded, "Yeah. Let's go home now. I have to brush my teeth."

* * *

A/N OK folks! One more chapter to go! Coming soon to a fanfiction site near you, the exciting(?) conclusion to "Tug of War"! Yay!

You know, I didn't realize how gross Control Freak could be until I wrote this . I mean, I only saw him once in the show so I had to make up his character and I based him on someone I know who is already a lot like the Control Freak we got to see in the show. I only used him as a way to unwittingly repair BB and Cy's friendship ultimately, and I used him because he has the distintction of being the first character (hero or villain) that I saw. (Yep, first eppie I saw was "Fear Itself") I also chose him because it was in a Raven episode that he appeared and was it just me or did he seem to be more focused on her than the others? I dunno. All I know is that I liked that episode. I'm rambling yet again. Oops. Oh well, who actually reads author's notes anyway? (Besides me?)

Since my 'please review' ditties seem to be popular, here's my latest cheesy desperate attempt at getting reviews! This time in a form of the most highly distinguished and dignified form of poetry known to mankind: A limerick! (and all the people groaned)

A young reader from Timbuctoo

Once read a story but didn't review

His dog ran away

what more can I say

Just don't let that happen to you!


	8. Thank Heaven For Listerine!

A/N It's that time again! It's the time when Zoe thanks her fantabulous reviewers without whom this story would not exist.

**Instant Coffee: **Love the MSN chats we've been having. I love chatting about writing and stuff (probably why I usually have lengthy author's notes.) Thanks for the review! I'm so glad you like the previous chapter and I hope you like this one. I'm so glad that I made your day! I only aim to please! And I'm glad that I didn't unwittingly start a CF/Rae trend. Wouldn't that be scary? (coughupdatemindgamesasapcough)

**Raven A. Star: **Well wait no longer, here's an update! Thanks so much for being a super awesome faithful reviewer!

**keystone: **You flatter me. Thanks for the rating, but 10/10? I disagree, but so glad you think so! Thank you for all your reviews! They make me happy. :)

**Scorpio Serpent: **LOL! Thanks for the reviewingness...ness!

**mew-xena: **So...much...chocolate...THANKIES!!! I'm glad you enjoyed my limerick and yes, Control Freak is gross. Thanks for the review.

**NatashaTeenTitan: **Your review makes me laugh. But please refrain from choking me to death. Raven's done enough of that after what I did to her in this fic. Can't say I blame her. I love your MPD-esque review. So much fun! Thanks!

**SARA: **Thanks for all the reviews! And thanks for reviewing every chapter. Glad this fic was full of surprises for you. Here I was afraid this was too predictable (but I guess as author, I know what will happen so I guess to me it is predictable). Guess not. Thanks a bunch!

**Philosopher: **Aw, thank you for the comments. I'm so flattered. Thanks. Glad to make you smile! :)

**Kat097: **Thanks for the review! I hope you enjoy the latest chapter.

**SuNsHiNe10:** I had so much fun writing the Rob/Star scenes. They make a cute couple IMHO. Thanks for the review!

**maiaye: **Really? You think Control Freak is hot? Strange. But I guess he is better looking than Plasmus . So glad you find this story unique! Thanks!

**soraoathkeeper: **The pairing wars make me laugh sometimes. Actually it is when people are so certain that their favourite pairing is the _right_ one and no other pairing could ever work, and anything else is just _wrong,_ that I become very amused. Nothing wrong with that though, I guess, I mean, I do have my preferred pairings myself. But it remains my philosophy in fanficcieland that if it's well written almost any pairing could work. Thanks for the review! Glad you like!

**ninmenju-shin: **Hey! Thanks for the review! It's OK that you haven't reviewed in a while. I was kind of afraid that you maybe gave up on it or something. Glad you didn't. I'm glad you like this story, and thank you so much for being honest about not liking the Control Freak thing. In a way I do agree that it was a bit much, it turned out to last longer than I planned but... yeah thanks for being honest. I appreciate it! I feel so flattered that you read this in one sitting-- I take that as a compliment!

**TitansQueen: **Oh I enjoyed your review so much! So creative! Thanks for the review!

HEY EVERYONE!!! Remember when I said 'One more chapter'? Just kidding! There will be one more _after_ this one. I decided to split the last chapter into two. Why? Because I'm having a super hard time with the ending. It's not _how_ it's going to end, because I knew how I wanted it to end since the beginning, but there is something about the ending that rubs me the wrong way and I've been trying to rewrite it. Grrr! But, I'm anxious to update so voila! Here's the last chapter...part one.

* * *

As promised, the first thing Raven did when she got home was brush her teeth and rinse her mouth out with Listerine several times. Although the memory of snapping out of her trance locking lips with Control Freak still gave her a foul taste. She emitted a strong minty smell as she went to the roof to meditate. She needed to pull herself together after reaching her breaking point earlier, not to mention try to forget the whole Control Freak affair. 

Meanwhile, Beast Boy and Cyborg told Robin and Starfire what happened briefly with Control Freak, but they kept teasing them about catching them in a moment. "So I guess this means you two are finally official," Beast Boy said.

Robin and Starfire exchanged glances, "I guess so," Robin replied, blushing slightly. Starfire giggled taking his hand.

"It's about time," Cyborg smirked.

"Yeah, your affection for each other was like, so obvious it was embarrassing!" Beast Boy snickered. It was true, the two of them had clearly liked each other since the very beginning and their evident like for each other had only grown.

"So what about you guys and Raven? Are you three cool?" Robin asked.

"I guess you can say that," Cyborg shrugged.

Beast Boy nodded, "It wasn't really resolved, not completely. I guess you can say the whole mess sort of helped us get our priorities straight." Cyborg nodded in agreement.

"So what now?" Robin asked.

"Well, we're taking Raven out to dinner tonight," Cyborg replied. "I think we'll resolve it then."

"Oh? Where will you three be feasting tonight?" Starfire asked.

Cyborg and Beast Boy shrugged, "Raven didn't say. Although she said that there's a coat and tie dress code," Cyborg replied. "So I think we're going somewhere expensive." The two boys looked forlorn about the fact.

Robin snickered, "So you finally get your date with Raven, but at what price?"

"I don't know about you Cy, but I'm afraid to find out," Beast Boy said, casting a glance his way.

"Me too," Cyborg replied.

"You guys didn't think I'd let you off _that_ easily did you?"

Everyone turned to see Raven join them, she shifted her gaze from one Titan to another. She still had a faint scent of mint coming off her as she sat down on the sofa, book in hand. "I made reservations at _Chez Lucien_ for seven tonight."

Robin burst into laughter and Starfire shrugged, slightly confused while Beast Boy and Cyborg went pale. _Chez Lucien_ was known to be one of the most expensive restaurants in Jump City, but also one of the best. Raven raised a brow at their reactions, the corners of her mouth raised slightly, it was clear despite the subtlety in her expression, that she was amused. She quickly turned to her book.

"You guys totally asked for it!" Robin said.

"Um, how did you manage to get reservations?" Beast Boy asked, hoping that they somehow won't have to go. At least not there.

Raven shrugged, "I have my ways."

Starfire suddenly rose to her feet, she almost looked as though she had to go to the bathroom after watching _Lord of the Rings_. "May I engage in female discussion with you Raven?" she asked, giving her a knowing smile.

Raven nodded. Starfire brightened and grabbed Raven's hand, taking her by surprise as Starfire enthusiastically dragged her into the kitchen. The tall redhead squealed in delight, "Oh Raven, this is very exciting!"

"To tell you the truth, I'm kind of worried about tonight," Raven said softly.

Starfire smiled, "It will be a success. Beast Boy and Cyborg are no longer fighting over you...are they?"

"No, they're not fighting with each other anymore, but I know deep down there is still a longing, maybe even resentment. The thought of them fighting over me all this time... I can't believe I'm admitting this, but it's giving me butterflies..." Raven sighed.

Starfire looked around the room, "I don't see any butterflies..."

"It's a figure of speech," Raven rolled her eyes. "It means it's making me kind of nauseous with nervousness."

"Oh Raven! You cannot be ill again!" Starfire exclaimed. "You have barely recovered from your cold! I promise Raven I will help in any..."

"Starfire," Raven said, "It's not like that. Don't you ever feel... never mind I don't know how to explain it. I'm not sick, just nervous. I don't understand why anyone would want to go out with me. I never thought I'd have to deal with anything like this. It's so overwhelming."

"It is complicated," Starfire said, "But I understand why you might be nervous. So what are you going to tell them?"

"You know," Raven replied simply, though truth be told, Raven didn't even know. What _was_ she going to say?

"But..." Starfire started, but Raven cast her a look of warning. She sighed and decided to change her angle, "I wonder what they will say."

Raven shrugged.

"Do not be sad Raven," Starfire said.

"I know, I just don't want to disappoint..."

"It will be fine," Starfire added, cutting her off. "Trust me."

Raven frowned, "You're way too optimistic sometimes."

"What is wrong with that?" Starfire asked. "You are too pessimistic sometimes."

"Hey, you didn't have to be the rope," Raven muttered.

"I do not understand..." Starfire said blankly.

Raven looked at her redheaded friend, "Never mind." Beginning to feel uncomfortable, Raven decided to change the subject, "So, about you and Robin..."

Starfire squealed with delight, "Oh Raven, it is most glorious! To be honest I was afraid of making my feelings for Robin known, I do not understand why, but perhaps it is because I was fearful that Robin would not feel the same way."

"Starfire, it was so obvious it was embarrassing," Raven said dryly.

With a giggle Starfire said, "Funny, Beast Boy said the exact same thing. It is strange that everyone seemed to know but us. Oh Raven! Robin is so marvellous. He is very good at putting his lips on mine. It is such a wonderful custom for showing ones like for another!"

"It's not always wonderful..." Raven frowned. She paused, suddenly re-remembering what happened with Control Freak, "I think I need to brush my teeth again."

Perplexed by Raven's sudden urge to brush her teeth for the umpteenth time, Starfire shrugged and joined the boys. Beast Boy and Cyborg both had their wallets and were counting their money, making sure they had enough. Robin was very amused by this.

"Maybe we can just have water..." Beast Boy said, "Yeah, water... then we can order pizza later."

"If we can afford pizza," Cyborg reminded him. "I heard horror stories about how much that place costs."

"I hope Raven was kidding," Beast Boy lamented.

"Beast Boy, when has Raven ever kidded?" Cyborg asked.

"Maybe we can take a mortgage, or some kind of bank loan?" Beast Boy grinned nervously. They proceeded to check under the couch cushions for change.

Robin laughed, "Oh I'm sure it won't be _that _bad. If you spent the whole week torturing Raven by fighting over her, and pining over her, I think for one, you both asked for it, and two, it should be worth it, don't you think? I mean, you do get to have that date with Raven, right? Besides, I heard that the food is amazing."

"It better be amazing," Cyborg said.

"So Starfire," Robin grinned, putting his arm around the redhead, "I guess this means we get to have the tower to ourselves tonight. What'd'ya say I make us dinner tonight?"

"Shall we turn the lights low and make this a romantic lighted by candles dinner?" Starfire asked.

Robin nodded. Starfire grinned.

As they went into the kitchen, Beast Boy and Cyborg played video games. They played in silence for a while until Beast Boy finally said, "Hey Cy, do you think Raven meant it earlier when she said that she didn't like either of us? I mean, she was kind of angry when she said it and..."

"I don't know," Cyborg shrugged, "I guess we'll find out soon."

"Yeah."

"You know, I'd be lying if I didn't say I hope she picks me over you," Cyborg said.

"Ditto."

"But no matter what happens, we'll still be friends, right?"

"Of course. You're my best bud. It sucked fighting so yeah..." Beast Boy replied as Cyborg kicked his butt in the racing game they were playing. He threw his control down in a huff.

"And the winner is me!" Cyborg cheered. "Oh yeah! I'm the mastah! I'm the champ! You know, I don't know why you bother, I always kick your butt!"

"That's because you always cheat."

"Do not."

"Do too!"

Do not!"

Do too!"

Do not!"

"All right, fine! Rematch?" Beast Boy asked.

"Y'know, we've got to leave in five minutes, I think it's time we get ready," Cyborg looked at the time.

"All right," Beast Boy sighed, "I'll kick your butt later."

"You wish," Cyborg grinned slyly.

They ran to their room and threw on a coat and tie and met in the living room. Beast Boy laughed when he saw Cyborg.

"What's so funny?"

"Dude, that coat is way too small!"

"Well when they start making coat's my size, I'll get one," Cyborg rolled his eyes. "Besides, yours is way too big."

Beast Boy stopped laughing, "When I got it, I thought I'd grow into it." He frowned. It was Cyborg's turn to laugh. Their expressions went blank when Raven came in. They were awestruck by her appearance.

She came in wearing something similar to her normal costume, minus the cloak, except she wore a long black dress, with slits on both sides of the skirt. Other than that she looked much like she always did. Nonetheless the boys found her slight change in clothes striking and elegant, perhaps because she was not hiding under an oversized dark blue cloak. She raised a brow at their dumbfounded expressions. "What?"

"Raven you... you...beautiful!" Beast Boy exclaimed. Cyborg nodded dumbly in agreement.

Raven blushed and heaved a sigh, "Well shall we go?"

They nodded all taking a nervous breath of anticipation, all worried about what the night will bring. The tension could almost be felt a mile away. Certainly, no matter how things turned out, things would never be the same, and it was inevitable that someone would be going home empty handed.

* * *

a review haiku 

as an author I adore

an honest review


	9. All's Well That Ends Well

A/N Happy birthday to me...happy birthday to me...Oh hello everyone welcome to the final instalment of "Tug of War"!!! 

As always, thanks are in order!!

**Keystone: **I don't know if the restaurant scene will be as dramatic as I hope it is, but I'm so glad you like what I did with Raven's look, she doesn't seem like the type who'd change her look entirely. Thank you so much for being a faithful reviewer!

**Instant Coffee: **Sorry to leave ya hanin'. I just have to say you cheered me up a lot on MSN today.  I had a really bad day today.  But being random on MSN was very...therapudic.  Anyway, thanks! 

**Raven A. Star: **And thank you for the reviews. I liked the obsessive compulsive teeth brushing thing too.

**nimenju-shin:** When I described Raven's outfit, I was sort of going for a cross between Raven's outfit in the comics and in the show minus the cloak. Long sleeves and all. Your review confused me a bit, why would they question the reservation being for seven? It was intentional. Anyway, thanks for the review! I don't know if my ending is perfect, but I hope you enjoy this chapter anyway.

**Philosopher:** Yeah, it irks me when I see this whole Raven goes shopping thing when it's so OOC for her. Like I said above, glad you like Raven's change in clothes. And Raven does know at this point, but at the end of the chapter she was still unsure of how she's going to say what she's going say. Thanks for being such a faithful reviewer!

**One Winged Kuja: **Eeps! Thanks for the compliment but... your idea there it's funny but....no. Thanks for the review, it made me laugh and I'm glad that you think it could be an episode.

**soraoathkeeper**: Congratulations. That was the longest review I ever received. I love getting long reviews so... thanks! I've looked around the Shipper's United site. It's an excellent site so thanks for the invite! Glad to see we're on the same page when it comes to reading and writing fanfics. Thanks a bunch for the compliments!

**HybridKiller:** Your review flattered me so much. Thanks! I am so glad you like it and forgive my ego but when I checked your profile, I almost have to wonder if you registered just to put this on your favourites... Everything you said is a huge compliment so thank you!

**Silver Foxglove: **Thanks for the flattering review! I'm so glad you liked it!

**Tabia, Kato97, dancingirl3, Slayergirl1362, kelbe, romanrogue19, impman, Scorpio Serpant and anyone else I may have missed (sorry if I missed you): **Thank you so much for the feedback!

Now on with the chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

Light romantic jazz music gently crooning through the stereo speakers and scented candles added to the ambiance of Robin and Starfire's dinner date. Starfire savoured every bite of Robin's shrimp fettuccine alfredo, and asparagus. He was an excellent cook, and everyone looked forward to the nights when it was his turn to make supper, but that night, Robin had outdone himself and then some. His meal especially prepared for Starefire was...phenomenal. She couldn't think of a better word to describe it. She secretly wondered if he had been holding back, waiting for the right time for his true talent as a culinary artist to shine. Starfire smiled, blushing slightly as he took her plate. 

"So what do you wish to do now Robin?" she asked. "Shall we watch a movie?"

Robin grinned slyly, "Sure, in a bit, but first... dessert!"

"Oh!" she smiled, "What will we be having for dessert?"

"Starfire, have you ever heard of fondue?" Robin asked. He was met with a blank stare, telling him that she had no idea what fondue was. His smile grew wide, "Well, Starfire, get ready for a huge treat!" He motioned her to stay seated as he suavely disappeared for a moment only to reappear with a plate of fruit and a fondue pot full of chocolate.

"Oh this looks delightful! What do I do?"

"You do this!" Robin dipped a banana slice into the chocolate and ate it. He closed his eyes and groaned blissfully, "So good!"

Starfire dipped an apple slice in the chocolate and sighed, "Oh Robin you are correct, this is the most glorious dish!"

Robin beamed, "Glad you like it!" He dipped a strawberry in the chocolate and nudged Starfire. She closed her eyes and sighed opening her mouth as Robin placed the chocolate covered strawberry on her tongue. She sighed blisfully, savouring the flavour.

"Robin, have I told you lately that you are simply wonderful?!" Starfire asked.

Robin shrugged casually, taking a grape and popping it in his mouth.

After they finished off the tray of fruit Starfire wondered out loud, "I wonder how the others are?"

Robin shrugged and snickered, "Probably flat broke by now! C'mon, let's put on a movie!"

Meanwhile, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven arrived at the restaurant and sat down. The boys gulped when they looked at the menu. Everything was freakishly expensive.

Noticing the looks of horror on her friends' faces Raven skimmed the menu and mused, "So what do you think? Should I get the lobster?"

Beast Boy wanted to be sick, not only was he suddenly worried about the poor lobsters in the tank along the wall but that was one of the most expensive items on the already pricey menu. "So yeah, I wonder how much they'll charge for a glass of water and a bun because that's what I'm getting," he wondered weakly. Cyborg nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I think I will get the lobster," Raven said, she looked at the tank and covered one of the lobsters with black energy and lifted it above the others within the tank, it was the biggest on in there, "This one looks nice. Don't you think?" She made sure they both got a good look at her choice before letting it sink to the bottom with the rest.

Fortunately for the lobster, and to the relief of the boys Raven ended up ordering the cheapest entrée on the menu, although it was still pricey. After they ordered Raven asked, "So do you guys want to know the truth about my decision?"

The boys looked at each other and nodded, taking a deep breath. This was it.

Raven closed her eyes, she twitched slightly but she remained expressionless, "How do I say this?" There was a long pause. After a suitable amount of suspense Raven said, "I don't know how to say this but... this is going to be awkward but...I guess I may as well just come out and say it. I like Robin."

Both boys blanched, an incredible feat considering neither boy was white to begin with. "Uh...what?" Cyborg asked blankly.

"Did I hear you correctly?" Beast Boy added.

"Yeah, I don't know how it happened, but he's just so cute and mysterious and I just don't know what to do, I mean Starfire..." she stopped, noticing that both Beast Boy and Cyborg looked like they were going to faint, in fact they were practically hyperventilating, clenching their fists. "You know I'm kidding, right?" she asked calmly, raising a brow.

There was a pause. The look of horror on the boys' face turned into anger and relief.

"What? Raven don't do that!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"But you don't do jokes!" Beast Boy gasped.

Raven remained deadpan as she said, "What? Just because I don't laugh doesn't mean I can't make a joke. I do have a sense of humour you know. You even met her, remember?" She smirked. Sure, it was a mean little joke, but this was her time for revenge. She decided to stop having fun with them and said seriously, "All right, I'm sorry. The truth is, what I said earlier about choosing no one still stands."

They relaxed, although they both looked disappointed.

"But at the same time," Raven said, "I choose you both."

Now the boys just looked confused.

"Care to explain?" Cyborg asked.

Raven closed her eyes and paused for a moment. Her lips moved ever so slightly, as though she was quietly meditating, "Look, I love you both deeply... just not in...that...way.," she said finally. "You are both so important to me, and I look to you both as more than friends, more like, family. You and Robin and Starfire... you are my family." It was clear that it was hard for Raven to say what she was saying, she paused again to quietly keep her powers in check. "I love you as friends, and only friends. Even if I did like one of you more than that, I could not safely pursue a serious relationship. It's dangerous. You both know that. "

"Aw, I'm sorry Raven," Beast Boy said, "I didn't think about that."

"Me neither."

"Guys, please, don't feel bad," Raven gave them a small smile, "It's just the way I am, and I'm fine with it. Besides, even if it wasn't dangerous, I don't know if I would be able to choose one of you over the other. You both mean so much to me. I mean, we've been through a lot together."

The boys smiled knowingly.

"I'm sorry," Raven sighed, "the last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it's the truth. I just hope that now that this is all in the open, you guys will be able to just get over me and move on."

"It won't be easy," Cyborg said. Beast Boy nodded in agreement.

"I was afraid you'd say that," Raven replied gently, "but we all know that it must be done. For my sake and mostly for the sake of your friendship. Do you guys realize how stupid it is to fight over someone? I mean, you two are best friends but this ridiculous infatuation over me turned you into enemies and I was stuck in the middle."

"We realize that now," Cyborg nodded.

"We're so sorry," Beast Boy added.

"Don't worry about it. Forgiven forgotten all right? It's pointless to hold a grudge," Raven stated simply.

"Y'know, it's more than an infatuation Raven," Beast Boy said.

"Yeah, it's lo..."Cyborg started but Raven shushed them both.

"Come on guys admit it. It may be love, but it's not love in the romantic sense. We're only teenagers. Romance is, for the most part, temporary at our age. You both think you love me, but you don't, not in that way. I can tell, deep down you're both infatuated with me because you both long for what Robin and Starfire have and I just happen to be the closest girl available. Believe me, one day you'll find it, but not with me. You don't need a girlfriend to be happy anyway," Raven shrugged. "I never understood why people think they should be paired up with someone to be happy."

"But..."

"Is it really so bad to just be friends?" Raven asked serenely. "What the three of us have going is... well it's special. Because you two have seen sides of me that no one really knows about, the three of us share such a unique bond. Why ruin it with romance? Think about it. What we have is something better, something deeper, something permanent. You two are my best friends and my brothers and that is why I can't choose, and I won't."

"But..."

"I said my piece and it's the truth. Now please, now that it's in the open, accept it and move on. For my sake at the very least," Raven said quietly.

When their food finally arrived, the three of them ate in silence, but any lingering tension left over from their feud had lifted and they knew that everything was going to be all right. While the heartache and disappointment was there, deep down the boys knew it wouldn't last and now they were indeed, free to move on. Besides, as they thought about it they all realized, being friends was enough.

After their dinner they returned home. The boys felt like they had matured a lot over the last couple of hours and Raven felt as though a weight she didn't even know existed had been lifted from her shoulders. Certainly, the whole affair had been a great growing experience for all three of them, and as a result, they felt closer than ever before.

They arrived at the Tower and joined Robin and Starfire who were in the middle of watching a movie. They were both sitting on the couch looking very close and cozy as they cuddled and shared a bowl of popcorn. When they noticed the others come in, Robin paused the movie and said, "Hey guys, how was your date?"

"Good," Cyborg said.

"Expensive," Beast Boy added, "But yeah, it was worth it."

Raven glanced away shyly.

"So... what happened?" Robin asked. "Who did you...?"

"No one," Raven replied.

"We decided to all just be friends," Cyborg said. Beast Boy and Raven nodded.

Starfire ginned knowingly, "And you feel good about that yes?"

They all nodded.

Starfire beamed, giving Raven an I-told-you-so look. Raven rolled her eyes at her alien friend.

"I'm so tired," Raven yawned, "It's been such a long day."

"Yeah it has," Cyborg agreed. Everyone nodded.

"Well, good night," Raven said. She grabbed Beast Boy and Cyborg by the shoulder and whispered her mantra a couple of times quietly to herself. They wondered why she was doing so but their ponderings were quickly explained when she gently and tenderly kissed them on the cheek, something she never did before, and probably would never do again. "Thanks for the dinner."

As Beast Boy and Cyborg both rubbed the place she kissed them with shocked and goofy looks on their faces, Raven retreated to her room. She closed the door behind her and suddenly felt unnaturally giddy. She smiled a rare, wide genuine smile.

"So," Beast Boy asked, taking a handful of popcorn from the bowl on the coffee table, "What'cha watching?"

"_13 Going on 30_," Robin replied.

Beast Boy and Cyborg exchanged disgusted glances, "Chick flick!"

"Man it's only day one of your serious relationship and already you've stooped," Cyborg taunted, "I pity you Robin, I really do."

"Oh shut up," Robin threw a handful of popcorn at him.

"Y'know, maybe it's a good thing Raven didn't pick either of us, right BB?" Cyborg asked with a mischievous grin.

"Yeah cuz see, that's the problem with dating," Beast Boy mocked, "You have to put up with girlie movies like this."

"But Robin is the one who picked the..."

"Shh!" Robin shushed Starfire looking slightly embarrassed.

"You mean this was your choice Rob?" Cyborg asked with an amused grin. He and Beast Boy fell to the floor in laughter.

Robin turned red, "Guys! No one says you have to watch! Don't you have something else to do?"

"Aw we were just buggin' ya,' Beast Boy chuckled, "Wanna play computer games Cy?"

"Sure!" Beast Boy and Cyborg ran off.

"Looks like everything is finally back to normal," Robin said once they were alone again.

"For the most part," Starfire added, kissing him gently.

Robin put his arm around Starfire and they settled into the sofa, getting cozy again. Starfire leaned into him and he kissed her ear, "Yeah, for the most part."

"You know Robin? I am so glad that everything did turn out well in the end," Starfire exclaimed thoughtfully, "It is so good to see that Beast Boy, Cyborg and Raven are friends again! I knew it would work out!" She looked at him slyly, "I told you so!"

"Hey, no way. When things got bad, you were just as doubtful as I was," Robin retorted.

"No I was not!"

"Wanna bet?" Robin raised a brow.

Starfire rolled her eyes, stealing a quick kiss, "Just start the movie."

* * *

A/N OK, this A/N will be somewhat long, but I hope you'll read anyway, it's my final thoughts. 

Well, it's been a fun journey, but now in the words of Homestar Runner's "Teen Girl Squad", "It's Over!"

Disclaimer: I don't own _Teen Titans_ or _13 Going on 30, _though it is one of the few stereotypical 'chick flicks' that I like.  And I also apologize if anyone was OOC.

Well, I hope you liked the conclusion of "Tug of War". Not as humourous as the rest but yeah... I had a super hard time with this chapter, and there is still something about it I don't like. But it ended how I always intended for it to end, with Raven choosing neither. Perhaps one of the reasons why it was so hard is because as I was uploading this story, and though the past few months as a Teen Titan fan I realize how _serious_ some people are about certain pairings. Some people think Raven (or Starfire) should be with so and so and any other pairing is almost blasphemous. I was tempted to have alternate endings to please the BB/Rave and Cy/Rave fans but I decided that you can't please everyone so I reverted back to my original ending. I hope that those of you who hoped that Raven would end up with someone, that you weren't too disappointed. I think it's a happy ending personally.  It seems as though almost every story lately is a romance (I confess, some of them are mine...), and for many writers and readers, only one pairing could possibly work while the others are _wrong_. I personally think any pairing well written could work. I apologize, but in a way, (though it wasn't the original intention) "Tug of War" was written to prove a point: there's nothing wrong with being single (I should know, I'm perpetually single) and you don't have to be paired up with someone to be happy. This is my way of trying a different approach to the whole pairing wars. (I hope it worked...) Besides, regardless of what hints are shown in the series, I doubt the show would ever pair anyone up except maybe Robin/Starfire.

Dedications: I hereby dedicate this fic to **Raven A. Star** for being the first reviewer, **Keystone**, for sticking with this fic to the end and providing me with more encouragement than you realize, and for recommending it to **Instant Coffee**, who I dedicate this to because what can I say, you, your reviews, and your stories rock (MSN chats equals yayness!)!!! Honorable mention goes to **all my faithful reviewers**, you know who you are! You all ROCK!!!! And I dedicate Raven's little...joke about Robin to **nimenju-shin **for the "please don't let Raven choose Robin!" review. What can I say, the review inspired me. It wasn't in the original draft.

Anyway, I hope you will check out my other stories. And oh yeah, following the Zoe Rose "Tug of War" begging for reviews tradition....

(To the tune of the first lines of "New York, New York")

Start sending reviews (doodoo dododoo)

I'm writing today (doo doo doodoodoo)

I like to see constructive crit

Review review!

(OK, I don't know the rest of the song so... Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease(x37.6) REVIEW!!! It would make me so very happy!)

Have a fantabulous day! :)


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